SALEM – William Leger, 40, of Salem and formerly of Somerville was sentenced today in Essex County Superior Court in relation to an incident that occurred on June 9, 2021 in Saugus which resulted in the death of Ashley Forward, 19, of Lynn, the Office of Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker announces. Five years ago to this day, Leger committed a robbery at 7-Eleven on Lincoln Avenue in Saugus and then fled from a Saugus Police officer. Leger drove a stolen vehicle south in the northbound lanes of Route 107 and collided with Forward’s vehicle. She was killed in the crash. Leger entered guilty pleas to charges of manslaughter, unarmed robbery, and receiving a stolen vehicle.
Today, before the Hon. Kathleen McCarthy-Neyman, Leger received a sentence of 18-20 years in state prison for the manslaughter charge, to be followed by 6-8 years in state prison for the unarmed robbery charge, which will in turn be followed by five years of probation from and after that. Assistant District Attorney Maria Markos led the prosecution on behalf of the Commonwealth with Assistant District Attorney Kevin Hennessey. Michelle Defeo served as victim/witness advocate and Massachusetts State Police Trooper Daniel Hinchion led the investigation. Leger was represented by attorney Jeffrey Sweeney.
Prior to sentencing, Forward’s younger sister Jillian and mother, Michelle Luongo, spoke about the impact of Leger’s actions and of Ashley, an athletic graduate of KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate High School who had just finished her first year as a nursing student at Emmanuel College at the time of her death, and who had volunteered with My Brothers Table and the Boys & Girls Club of Lynn.
“Ashley was a remarkable young woman with a bright future ahead of her,” Luongo said. “She was kind, compassionate, and always willing to help others no matter what…Nursing was not just a career choice for her – it reflected who she was. She wanted to care for people, to comfort them, and to heal them. Her life mattered deeply – not just to her family, her friends, or the community where she gave so much of her time, but to the people she would have helped along the way.”
