Photo: Anthony Barnett
The body of 45-year old Estevanico Ali Goldsmith was found by police in the early hours of Christmas Day. Calls reporting the shooting on the 1000 block of Clinton Street in Madera started coming in a little before 4:30 AM. Goldsmith was the only victim.
Evidence led police officers to name 50-year old Anthony Barnett as the sole suspect. Barnett, an Army veteran, has twice been convicted for carrying a loaded gun in public and is forbidden to be in possession of a weapon. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
The motive doesn’t seem to be anything more than a heated argument during a domino game. Goldsmith was in town from Vallejo to visit his 11-year old daughter for her birthday. He was at a friend’s house the day before her birthday celebration when a fight broke out.
Several people were involved in breaking up the fight after which Barnett retrieved a gun from his vehicle and shot Goldsmith. It is not publicly known how many times Goldsmith was shot. “It was not a single gunshot wound that caused his death,” stated Madera Police Cmdr. Giachino Chiaramonte.
Barnett was at the Fresno Veterans Affairs Medical Center on December 29th when a doctor recognized him as the man wanted for Goldsmith’s death.
Police held him at the VA until Madera County Detectives arrived. Barnett was compliant during his arrest and transported to Madera County Jail. Guns and ammunition were found during a search of the former Post Office employee’s apartment and vehicle although it is unknown at this time if the gun used to shoot Goldsmith was one of the guns found.
This marks Madera’s fourth murder of 2017, the second in December.
