TAMPA, Fla. (TNND) — A Florida man was sentenced to life in prison for killing a man he and his boyfriend invited to an apartment for a “sexual encounter,’ according to a prosecutor.
State Attorney Suzy Lopez said 29-year-old Dewayne Gallishaw, of Tampa, learned his fate on Friday. It marked exactly a month after a jury found him guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, attempted first-degree murder, and aggravated battery.
“Gallishaw and his boyfriend asked the victim to come over to their apartment on Marsh Harbor Place in Tampa in 2023 when the crime occurred,” Lopez said in a statement shared on social media.”Gallishaw also attempted to murder his boyfriend,” Lopez added.
Sheriff Chad Chronister of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office previously said Gallishaw was arrested in April 2023. At the time, he said officers responded to an apartment for a shooting.
Chronister said when they arrived, they found two men “with apparent gunshot wounds.” While one suffered non-threatening injuries, the other was later pronounced dead at a hospital, said Chronister.
Authorities gather at the scene of a deadly shooting on April 19, 2023. (Photo: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
Lopez said investigators later learned Gallishaw and his boyfriend invited the victim — who was not identified — to their apartment for a sexual encounter. As Gallishaw’s boyfriend and the victim were engaged in sexual relations, Gallishaw went into a bedroom, grabbed a gun, shot the victim in the head, according to WFLA.
Gallishaw’s boyfriend then ran into a bedroom, locked the door and called 911, per the media outlet. Gallishaw fired several shots through the door, WFLA noted.
Some of the rounds went into a neighboring apartment and hit a woman — who was in her mid-70s — in the foot, said Chronister, who added that the woman survived.
Lopez said jurors reviewed “extensive evidence,” including witness testimony, body cam footage, and helicopter surveillance video before returning the guilty verdict.
“We hope this will bring some sense of closure and healing for the victim’s family,” Chronister said.