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OREGON CITY, Or. -- A Gladstone man who killed his mother was convicted of Murder in the Second Degree Tuesday by a Clackamas County jury.
Ronald Joseph Kirk, 38, was also convicted of being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. He will be sentenced at 9 a.m. Nov. 4. He faces a life sentence with a minimum of 25 years in prison.
Kirk lived with his mother, Rosa Leyva, in her small home on Southeast Cason Road in Gladstone.
Leyva’s coworkers were concerned when she did not arrive at work early on Nov. 26, 2024. They called her, as did her family and friends, but she didn’t answer. Those who knew Leyva were worried. They were aware that Kirk was volatile, dangerous and frequently drunk or high on meth, according to court testimony.
Leyva, 61 at the time of her death, herself was worried Kirk would harm himself or others. She intended to evict him and told him so.
When Gladstone police arrived to conduct a welfare check on Nov. 26, Kirk answered the door. Officers asked about Leyva. Kirk told officers she was inside and had not been conscious for about a day.
Officers found Leyva sitting at her dining room table in front of her laptop. A full glass of wine on the table before her. She had been shot once in the head. Her body was covered with pillowcases.
Investigators determined that Leyva died around 6:45 p.m. on Nov. 25.
Kirk “sat there with his mother’s dead body for a full day,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Rusty Amos told the jury.
Leyva had “a relentless devotion to her son,” Amos said. But by early November 2024, she had enough of his drinking, drug use, explosive temperament and bizarre behavior fueled by his consumption of alcohol and drugs.
While under the influence of drugs and alcohol, Kirk would become obsessed with exorcism and demonic possession. In the weeks before her death, Leyva told a close friend that Kirk believed she was possessed.
A month before he killed his mother, Kirk left a voicemail for his son claiming Leyva was possessed and that he “almost” put a bullet in her head the day before.
Her patience worn thin, Leyva wanted him out of her house and planned to legally evict him.
On Nov. 8 she texted Kirk: “You need to leave. I don’t want anyone in my house.”
Kirk had no job, no money and nowhere to go. His mother was his sole support. His world was collapsing, Amos told jurors.
On Nov. 8 and Nov. 11, 2024, Gladstone police contacted Leyva, who contacted Gladstone police asking for help. She was increasingly fearful of Kirk and his erratic drug-induced behavior.
Leyva and Kirk are seen in a Nov. 11 home surveillance video shown to jurors. “You’re higher than a kite. Get some help. Please,” Leyva told him.
Leyva was “the one person who was always there for him,” Amos told the jury. And Kirk returned her undying love, said Amos, with “one bullet to the head -- murder.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Rusty Amos and Deputy District Attorney Grace Hoffa prosecuted the case.
Clackamas County Circuit Court case 24CR62810
