A Tampa man is in a Hillsborough County courtroom this week, accused of turning a 2023 apartment meetup into a deadly shooting that left one man dead and a 73-year-old neighbor wounded. The defendant, Dewayne Gallishaw, is charged with first-degree murder and could spend the rest of his life in prison if a jury convicts him. Jurors are now sorting through sharply different accounts of what unfolded inside that Marsh Harbor Place unit.
According to Tampa Bay 28, prosecutors say Gallishaw had been living with his boyfriend at the apartment and invited another man over for a sexual encounter. Investigators allege that at some point, Gallishaw went into a bedroom, grabbed a handgun, shot the invited man in the head at close range, then fired several more rounds through a closed bedroom door as his boyfriend locked himself inside and called 911.
What deputies say happened
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reports that deputies were called to the complex around 7:25 p.m. on April 19, 2023, for shots fired. When they arrived, they found two people with apparent gunshot wounds. One victim was rushed to Tampa General Hospital and later pronounced dead. In a neighboring unit, a 73-year-old woman had been hit in the foot by a stray round.
"There is never a reason for an argument to turn deadly," Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a department news release. Investigators charged Gallishaw with first-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and attempted first-degree murder.
Charges and what is at stake
Coverage from the time of the shooting indicates that Gallishaw was arrested, held without bail and booked on counts that included first-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery and attempted murder. According to Patch, the injured bystander was taken to AdventHealth Tampa, where she was treated for a nonlife-threatening gunshot wound to her foot.
If jurors find Gallishaw guilty of first-degree murder, Florida law allows for a life sentence, a possibility that looms over every witness who takes the stand in the case.
Trial begins after long wait
The trial opened this week in Hillsborough County, the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office told Tampa Bay 28. It is the first major courtroom hearing since the April 2023 shooting, a case that has been slowly working its way through the system.
Prosecutors are expected to call witnesses and introduce evidence to argue that the killing was intentional and premeditated. The defense is poised to push back on that narrative, challenging how the shooting unfolded and what Gallishaw intended when he fired the gun. Ultimately, jurors must decide whether the state has proven first-degree murder or a lesser offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
Legal context
Under the Florida Statutes, first-degree murder covers premeditated killings and certain felony murders and carries the harshest penalties available under state law. Attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery are also serious felonies and would factor heavily into any sentence if Gallishaw is convicted on those counts.
According to Patch, Gallishaw was being held at the Falkenburg Road Jail without bail as the case moved forward. Court calendars show days reserved for witness testimony, and the Hillsborough County courtroom is now the stage for the detailed, and at times graphic, evidence that will determine his fate.
