SALEM — William Cash will be 89 before he can seek parole.
Essex County Superior Court Judge Timothy Feeley sentenced the 47-year-old defendant in the 2017 Easter Sunday murder of Leonardo “Lenny” Clement on Monday.
Last month, a jury found Cash guilty of second-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, human trafficking and firearms charges. He will serve a minimum of 42 years in state prison.
In her sentencing argument, Essex Assistant District Attorney Susan Dolhun said Clement was an innocent man who was trying to defuse an argument at the time of the murder.
“The loss to the community is incalculable,” she said.
Prince Belin, who was also shot by Cash, was seriously injured and feared going outside, she said.
Belin died of an unrelated cause earlier this year.
Clement, Belin and Belin’s girlfriend had spent the morning at church on April 16, 2017, and were walking on Lewis Street in downtown Lynn when they first encountered Cash, prosecutors said.
Clement, 46, was fatally gunned down in broad daylight in Central Square, before the gun was turned on his friend, Belin.
“No sentence can undo what this defendant has done,” said Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett in a statement. “But this sentence is just, in that it recognizes the unique pain of each victim.”
