OREGON CITY, Ore. — Relish Wire — A man was sentenced to life imprisonment with a mandatory 25-year minimum on Nov. 4 for murdering his mother, Rosa Leyva, 61, in their Gladstone home.
Ronald Joseph Kirk, 38, was convicted back in October by a Clackamas County jury of second-degree murder for shooting Leyva once in the head while she sat at her dining room table.
Jurors also convicted the 38-year-old of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office
Leyva, who died Nov. 25, 2024, at about 6:45 p.m., was seated at the table in front of her laptop, with a glass of wine nearby. Her body was later found covered with pillowcases.
In the weeks before the killing, Leyva had grown increasingly afraid of her son, telling a close friend that Kirk believed she was possessed, and that his drinking and use of methamphetamine and unpredictable behavior were tied to fixations on exorcism and demonic possession.
In a voicemail messages Kirk left his own son said his now dead mother was possessed. In that message, he expressesed he had “almost” put a bullet in her head the day before.
By early November, Leyva had decided Kirk had to leave.
“You need to leave. I don’t want anyone in my house,” Leyva said, in a text message she sent her murderer son.
According to authorities she planned to evict him. On Nov. 8.
And, reached out to Gladstone police for help and again on Nov. 11, which according to investigators was because she had increasingly become afraid of Kirk and his erratic behavior, while on Nov. 11, home surveillance video captured her confronting him:
“You’re higher than a kite. Get some help. Please.”
Kirk, who had no job and no money, depended on his mother for support.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Rusty Amos told jurors that Kirk’s response was “one bullet to the head — murder” during questioning.
On the next morning, Nov. 26, coworkers, relatives and friends could not reach the now deceased 61-year-old. When she failed to arrive at work early, those who knew her were concerned, understanding Kirk to be volatile and often drunk or high on methamphetamine.
Gladstone police went to the house that afternoon for a welfare check, where Kirk opened the door and told officers his mother was inside and had not been conscious for about a day.
Officers found Leyva dead at the dining room table, where Kirk had remained in the house with her body for a full day.
“These past two years have been the hardest years of our lives.” Michelle Guzman, Leyva’s younger sister said. “Having to grieve and deal with the loss of our sister – a daughter, a grandmother, a friend – has broken, shattered, changed and impacted our lives forever
“You are no longer someone we want contact with and there’s no place for you in our family’s future,” Guzman added, as reported by KGW.
Kirk begins his new life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 25 years. After serving that minimum term, he might have the chance to petition the state parole board for a hearing on whether he can be rehabilitated. He would be in his early to mid-60s before becoming eligible to seek release.
The judge also ordered Kirk to pay $5,000 toward funeral expenses.
Kirk said he intends to appeal, arguing that he did not receive a fair trial.
