A 38-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a man inside an east Phoenix group home, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said in a release.
Michael Lanunziata had lived with the victim, Joseph Lephiew, at a “transitional living” environment for about one year prior to the shooting, which took place in January 2024. The facility housed five men at the time of the shooting.
According to the release, when officers arrived, Lanunziata had exited the residence through a second-story window. He spoke with first responders for several minutes on the roof of the house. Officers entered the residence and found Lephiew lying on the stairs with gunshot wounds. Lephiew was unarmed, with no evidence of any weapons near his body. Lephiew was pronounced dead at the scene.
