Man who beat and fatally shot sleeping neighbor in his home is sentenced

SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) — A man will spend decades in prison for going to his neighbor’s home and killing him nearly six years ago.

The Shasta County District Attorney’s Office announced Jan. 14 that Joseph Roza received a sentence of 40 years to life in state prison in connection with the death of 44-year-old Gregory Galusha. A jury found Roza guilty on Dec. 17, 2024, of second-degree murder and a special allegation that he discharged a firearm during the crime.

According to prosecutors, on Feb. 7, 2019, Roza when to Galusha’s home while he was asleep and “fired his gun into the wall above Galusha’s head.” The defendant reportedly struck Galusha with a “wooden sword-like stick” before following and shooting him multiple times as Galusha ran down his driveway.

The district attorney’s office said, “Roza became enraged at a comment made by Galusha as he ran up Stagecoach Drive,” and he fatally shot Galusha in the back from 40 to 50 yards away.

Roza reportedly left Galusha to die on the road and told others to conceal his gun and clean up his shell casings. Prosecutors said Roza hid from police for several days but eventually turned himself in and admitted to killing his neighbor.

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