WORCESTER—A Worcester man has been sentenced to life in prison for a 2020 shooting that killed a 24-year-old man and endangered a child, according to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office.
Leroy L. Thompson Jr., 30, was found guilty last month of second-degree murder and reckless endangerment of a child in the killing of Joshua Lopez, who was shot on July 5, 2020, while sitting in the backseat of a vehicle on Almont Avenue. Lopez died the following day. A minor was also in the car at the time of the shooting.
Thompson received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years on the murder charge. He was also sentenced to 2.5 years in the Worcester County House of Correction on the reckless endangerment charge, to be served concurrently.
“I hope today’s sentencing brings some measure of justice to the family and loved ones of Mr. Lopez,” District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said in a statement. He credited Worcester police, Assistant District Attorneys Timothy Westerman and George Somi, and Victim Witness Advocate Margaret Rwaramba for their work on the case.
Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier also issued a statement, praising the work of investigators and prosecutors. “This agency was hopeful for a serious sentence that truly reflected the unnecessary, heinous, and cruel nature of such a violent crime,” he said. “The details of this case stand alone, and we anticipate they will weigh heavily when the opportunity for parole is examined.”
The July 2020 killing was among several incidents of gun violence in Worcester that summer, and prosecutors emphasized that a child’s presence in the vehicle underscored the reckless danger posed by the shooting.
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