An 85-year-old has been accused of shooting his business partner dead in North Carolina after being ordered to pay the victim more than $300,000 hours earlier, according to a report.
Willard Black, 85, allegedly shot Robert Arguelles, 59, on Wednesday afternoon at the Old Hickory Tannery, a furniture company based in Newton, North Carolina.
Officers arrived at 3.18 p.m., where they found Arguelles with four gunshot wounds to his chest and back, the Newton Police Department told WSOC-TV.
Despite efforts to save his life, Arguelles died at the scene. At the time of the shooting, there were dozens of employees inside the building.
Black was detained and has since been charged with second-degree murder, police say. His weapon, a .38-caliber revolver, was recovered at the scene, prosecutors told WSOC-TV.
Black appeared in court Thursday morning, where he was given a $2.5 million bond.
“We are still in shock,” Katherine Lebo, Arguelles’ friend, told the outlet. “He was an amazing person.”
“A kind-hearted man. A loving husband and father. He was amazing,” she added.
Court documents obtained by the outlet state that Black had been ordered to pay the victim over $300,000 just four hours before Arguelles was shot.
According to the records, a judge ruled for the judicial dissolution of the Old Hickory Tannery earlier this year, but allowed Arguelles the right to make an “acceptable offer” to Black.
Records seen by WBTV revealed that Black had owned 50.1 percent of Old Hickory Tannery’s shares, with Arguelles’s company, RRA Solutions, owning the remaining 49.9 percent.
On March 30, 2026, a judge ordered Black to pay $310,882.74 for money lent to Old Hickory Tannery, including interest. A settlement was reached on May 11, with Black offering to sell his shares in addition to repaying the money.
On June 17, the day of the shooting, Black told Arguelles’ team that his own team was “withdrawing their consent” to the settlement but was informed by a judge that he was still subject to the settlement’s terms.
In a statement obtained by WSOC-TV, Alexander County Schools Superintendent Bill Griffin revealed that Arguelles was a school board member.
Griffin described Arguelles as an “amazing father, husband and board member who has faithfully supported our school system for almost four years.”
“In honor of his memory, our district fully supports and respects the family’s privacy as they navigate this profound loss,” Griffin added.
In 2018, Black told Furniture Today that the Old Hickory Tannery specialized in the “customization with fabric and leather” and that it also made “custom-sized frames.”
In the same article, Black noted that Arguelles was his new partner.
“I met Willard and the team, and if you ask me if I believe in them, the answer is unequivocally ‘Yes.’ They are best in class,” Arguelles told the publication.
