FRESNO – In April 2024, with assistance from the California Department of Justice (DOJ) crime lab, Bailey Rosenberger was identified as the suspect responsible for the January 1, 2016 stabbing death of Gurcharn Singh Gill, 68, in Fresno. Rosenberger, who was 15 years old at the time of the murder, was arrested on April 2, 2025, in Modesto for local warrants and the 2016 murder of Gurcharn Gill. Rosenberger was transported to the Fresno County Jail on April 10, 2025, where formal charges were filed by the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.

On January 1, 2016, at 3:45 pm, Fresno police officers responded to the Shields Express Mart, located near Shields Avenue and West Avenue regarding a store employee on the ground, unresponsive and suffering from unknown injuries. When officers arrived, they found Gill on the ground behind the counter. Gill was suffering from multiple stab wounds. Officers and EMS personnel provided first aid; however, Gill was pronounced deceased at 3:58 pm.

Detectives learned Gill was working behind the counter when an unknown suspect entered the store, lured Gill over to the end of the counter, and began stabbing him multiple times. After stabbing Gill, the suspect stole numerous items from behind the counter and fled the scene, running northbound on Channing Way. Detectives spent many weeks investigating the case; however, they were unable to identify the suspect, and the case grew cold.

At the time, Fresno police called in the California Department of Justice to process the crime scene for evidence, including fingerprint evidence.  When Modesto police arrested Rosenberger for a narcotics violation, his fingerprint taken at the time of the arrest, ultimately match print evidence recovered from the 2016 crime scene.

“Advances in technology and science, along with the dedicated work of criminalists at California DOJ, are culminating into cases closed for homicide detectives and victims’ families in our state.  This is a very positive step for public safety and criminal justice,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona