Blanchard Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2010 Murder of Stoughton Man

Michael W. Blanchard, 24, of Stoughton will potentially be spending the rest of his life in prison for the murder of another Stoughton man back in 2010.

Blanchard shot and killed 21-year-old Stephen Erving in the early morning hours of March 16, 2010.

He fired several rounds from a 9 mm pistol through Erving’s first-floor bedroom window on Lincoln Street in Stoughton, killing Erving, according to the DA's office. 

After hearing closing arguments in the trial on Monday, the jury returned a guilty verdict on the second degree murder charge Tuesday afternoon. Blanchard was then sentenced on Wednesday. 

"After hearing a victim impact statement from the mother of the murdered man, Judge Elizabeth M. Fahey has sentenced Blanchard to life in prison on the murder charge, with a concurrent sentence of 2.5 years to 2.5 years-and-one-day in state prison for his conviction on carrying a firearm without a license in this attack," according to a press release from the Office of Norfolk County District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey. 

In Massachusetts, the life sentence for second degree murder allows the convict to petition for parole after serving 15 years, according to the DA's office.

ADA Greg Connor had requested the life sentence, which is statutory for second degree murder, and had asked 3 to 5 years on the gun charge, according to the release.