MINNEAPOLIS — An Eden Prairie man will serve a life sentence for the shooting death of his wife inside a hotel room, a premeditated act prosecutors say was committed in front of her children.
Ryan Charles Rooney was convicted by a jury Nov. 2 of first-degree murder while committing domestic abuse. On Monday Rooney appeared in a Hennepin County courtroom and was sentenced to life, with the possibility of release after serving 30 years behind bars.
A criminal complaint says Eden Prairie police were dispatched to the Residence Inn on Nov. 2, 2021, on a request for a welfare check. When officers arrived, they allegedly announced themselves multiple times before a man, later identified as Rooney, walked down the stairs from the hotel room's second level. According to the complaint, a child was also walking with Rooney.
Police say Rooney had a gunshot wound under his chin and an exit wound on the top of his head.
Officers searching the hotel suite found a second small child in a crib on the main level and a woman, later identified as 29-year-old Samantha Rose Columbus Boshey, dead on the second floor with a gunshot wound to her chest.
Police say they also found methamphetamine in the hotel room.
Investigators learned that Rooney and Boshey had been married on Aug. 30, 2021, and that he had previous convictions for domestic assault, making terroristic threats, and had violated orders for protection and no contact.
In court Monday Boshey's family spoke about Samantha's love for her children and extended family, and her ability to light up a room with a smile.
"It pains me and kills me inside knowing I will never see her smile light up a room, watch her raise her kids, live her best life, and help her when she would fall like all fathers have a chance to do," said her father Charles Boshey holding back tears. "A big piece of me died that day she died. I will never be whole again because of what happened to my baby girl."
Her aunt Virginia Sagataw spoke with anger in her voice, addressing Rooney personally before being redirected by the judge.
"Even though I am a Christian, I have yet to forgive him for this unspeakable act he committed upon my unarmed, helpless niece," she said.
Rooney had nothing to say when asked by Judge Daniel C. Moreno if he wanted to speak before he was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison.
If you are in need of help or services, please call Tubman's 24-hour crisis & resource line at 612-825-0000.
Help is also available by calling 800-799-7233 or texting START to 88788 to be connected with someone from the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The hotline includes more options for support and identifiers of abuse on its website.
For Minnesota residents, Cornerstone MN also offers resources and safe housing for domestic abuse survivors and crime victims. Call 1-866-223-1111 or chat online with the crisis hotline.
If it is an emergency, call 911.
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