Third striker looking at life in prison for killing his roommate in Tustin

Raul Delagarza Jr., age 49, already had two strikes when he gunned down his roommate at a halfway house in Tustin. Now he is looking at up to 53 years to life in prison after being convicted again on March 24.

Delagarza, Jr. was convicted on felony charges of voluntary manslaughter and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is set to be sentenced on June 3.

Delagarza’s criminal record includes a November, 2006 conviction for assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury and grand theft auto and leading police on a chase with a sentencing enhancement for gang activity in March of 2011.

The killing of Delagarza Jr.’s roommate, Seilala Faamausili, age 43, happened at about 7:20 a.m. on July 24, 2017, at the 14500 block of Carfax Drive in Tustin.

Other residents at the halfway house recalled seeing Delagarza leave quickly after the shooting. The responding police officers found Faamausili in his room with a single gunshot wound to his lower back and two other bullet holes were seen in the wall.

The prosecutors told the jury that as Delagarza left he told a witness, “You’re a lucky (expletive), you’re lucky”.

Delagarza claimed that he killed his roommate in self-defense. He was arrested three and a half hours following the shooting at his aunt’s house.