VAN NUYS : Killer Receives Term of 30 Years to Life
A 19-year-old Arleta gang member has been sentenced to the maximum term of 30 years to life in prison for killing a Van Nuys man in the parking lot of a market where the victim had gone to buy ice cream.
Lenin Martinez was convicted by a Van Nuys Superior Court jury last month of first-degree murder in the Nov. 28, 1991, shooting death of Clarage R. Kingsmore, 61.
At the trial, police testified that two friends of Martinez said he had told them that he killed an “old man” shortly after Kingsmore was slain. Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels said after the sentencing Tuesday that “because it’s an indeterminate sentence, I expect he will be in prison for the rest of his life.”
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
