Murder conviction for drive-by shooting that killed Black man in Sacramento County hate crime
A Sacramento County jury on Tuesday found a man guilty of murder for a drive-by shooting in a hate crime against a Black man gunned down last year at an Arden Arcade shopping center.
Joseph Paul DeMarco, 48, was convicted of murder for the June 9 fatal shooting of James Roseman, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
The murder conviction for DeMarco, a white man, included a special circumstance enhancement for intentionally killing Roseman, 38, of Sacramento, because of his race, according to a filed criminal complaint.
Latrina Davis, Roseman’s sister, said her brother was fixing his parked car’s light fuses near a check cashing business when he was shot in the chest. She said witnesses spotted DeMarco driving around the shopping center that night and shot at another Black man about 20 minutes before shooting her brother “just randomly.”
Davis believes DeMarco was “on the hunt” that night, driving around the area wanting to shoot anyone who was Black.
“It hurts because my brother was a lover of all people, every race. He didn’t see color,” Davis told The Sacramento Bee. “It’s devastating.”
The shooting was reported shortly before 12:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of Fulton Avenue at Hurley Way after gunfire was heard outside a 7-Eleven convenience store, Sacramento County sheriff’s officials have said.
Deputies arrived and found a man, later identified as Roseman, suffering from a gunshot wound in a nearby parking lot. Roseman was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, sheriff’s officials have said.
The murder charge against DeMarco also included enhancements for using a .22 caliber gun to kill Roseman and intentionally firing the gun at others from a vehicle with the intent to kill.
There was another man who was shot at that night, but the charges filed against DeMarco indicate the other victim was not seriously wounded by gunfire.
Roseman’s sisters on Thursday said the other victim shot at that night their brother’s friend. They said he was grazed by gunfire while standing outside the 7-Eleven convenience store, across the street from where Roseman was shot about 20 minutes later. They said neither shooting victim in the unprovoked attack knew DeMarco.
The jury found DeMarco guilty of firing a gun from a vehicle at the other victim in the June 9 shooting, prosecutors said. This charge also included additional enhancements against DeMarco for using the .22 caliber gun and shooting at this victim for purpose of intimidating and interfering with his rights because of status and perceived ethnicity, according to the criminal complaint.
DeMarco was also convicted of eight counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a gun, prosecutors said. The criminal complaint shows that these gun charges included the gun used in the deadly shooting along with a .50 caliber Conn Valley Arms rifle he had in his possession at the time.
The gun charges in the conviction also included firearms found in DeMarco’s possession when he was arrested two days after the shooting, including the .50 caliber Conn Valley Arms rifle, a .22 caliber Ruger handgun, a .45 caliber Lyman Gun Company Plains rifle, a .50 caliber Traditions Inc Kentucky 50 model long handgun, a .22 Savage Arms Corp 64 model rifle, and a .22 caliber Remington model 12 rifle.
DeMarco was previously convicted of making criminal threats, a felony charge, in January 2014 in Sacramento County, according to the criminal complaint.
Dominique Roseman, another of Roseman’s sisters, said DeMarco shot her brother and his friend “for no reason,” just because they were Black. She said she’s scared to know such a racially motivated attack can still occur in California.
“I can finally start grieving,” she said about the murder conviction. “It hurts, but I’m glad we still got a victory.”
Prosecutors said DeMarco faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
DeMarco remains in custody at the Sacramento County Main Jail. He is scheduled to return March 27 for his sentencing hearing in Sacramento County Superior Court.
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 2:46 PM.
