Prosecutors said Ronald Kirk became fixated on demonic possession before fatally shooting Rosa Leyva in the Gladstone home they shared.
OREGON CITY, Ore. — An Oregon man was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murdering his 61-year-old mother, whose growing fear of his behavior and plans to make him leave her home became central evidence in the case.
Ronald Joseph Kirk, 38, received the life sentence Nov. 4 in Clackamas County Circuit Court for the 2024 killing of Rosa Leyva. He must serve at least 25 years before becoming eligible for parole. A Clackamas County jury convicted Kirk in October of second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm, nearly two years after police found Leyva dead inside the Gladstone home she shared with her son.
The case began when Leyva failed to arrive at work on Nov. 26, 2024. Her coworkers, relatives and friends tried to contact her but received no response. Gladstone police went to her home on Southeast Cason Road for a welfare check. Kirk answered the door and told officers that his mother was inside and had been unconscious for about a day, according to prosecutors. Officers entered the house and found Leyva at her dining room table in front of her laptop. Investigators determined that she had been fatally shot the previous evening, around 6:45 p.m. Nov. 25.
Evidence presented during Kirk’s trial focused heavily on the weeks before the killing. The Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office said Leyva had become increasingly worried about her son’s drinking, drug use, explosive behavior and conduct while under the influence. Prosecutors said Kirk became fixated on exorcism and demonic possession when using drugs and alcohol. In the weeks before Leyva died, she told a close friend that Kirk believed she was possessed, according to evidence described by the district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors also presented a voicemail Kirk had left for his son about a month before Leyva’s death. In that recording, according to the district attorney’s office, Kirk claimed that his mother was possessed and said he had nearly shot her the previous day. The statement later became part of the evidence prosecutors used to describe Kirk’s behavior before the killing. The district attorney’s office also said witnesses knew Kirk as volatile and frequently intoxicated or using methamphetamine.
At the same time, Leyva was preparing to make Kirk leave her house. Prosecutors said she intended to legally evict him and had told him that he needed to move out. On Nov. 8, 2024, she sent Kirk a message telling him she did not want anyone in her house. She also sought help from Gladstone police as her concerns about his behavior increased. Police had contact with Leyva on Nov. 8 and again on Nov. 11, according to the district attorney’s office.
Jurors also saw home surveillance video recorded Nov. 11. The footage captured Leyva confronting Kirk about his condition and urging him to get help, prosecutors said. Senior Deputy District Attorney Rusty Amos told jurors that Kirk had no job, no money and nowhere else to live at the time, while Leyva had been his main source of support. Prosecutors argued that her decision to remove him from the home formed part of the circumstances leading up to her death.
When officers arrived for the welfare check Nov. 26, investigators said Leyva had already been dead for about a day. Prosecutors told jurors that Kirk remained in the home during that period. The condition in which officers found Leyva and Kirk’s statements to police became additional pieces of the prosecution’s case. Authorities arrested Kirk, and the case eventually proceeded to trial in Clackamas County Circuit Court under case number 24CR62810.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on second-degree murder and felon in possession of a firearm. Senior Deputy District Attorney Rusty Amos and Deputy District Attorney Grace Hoffa prosecuted the case. The second-degree murder conviction carried a life sentence with a minimum period Kirk must serve before parole can be considered.
Leyva’s family addressed the court during Kirk’s sentencing, describing the lasting effect of her death nearly two years earlier. Her younger sister said the loss had deeply affected relatives who remembered Leyva as a daughter, sister, grandmother and friend. Published accounts of her life said Leyva had worked for the Oregon Department of Justice for decades before later taking a job at a medical clinic.
With the Nov. 4 sentencing, the criminal case reached its principal judgment stage. Kirk is serving a life sentence and cannot be considered for parole until he has served at least 25 years. His conviction followed a jury trial in which prosecutors presented testimony, police contacts, electronic messages and surveillance evidence documenting the escalating conflict between Kirk and his mother before her death.
Author note: Last updated November 6, 2026.