PROVIDENCE - A mother and a father, one prayerful and the other quietly resentful, stood up in Superior Court yesterday to remember "a beautiful, wonderful, talented boy."

It was 14 months ago that Errol J. Clinton, 16, a son of Liberian emigrants, was gunned down outside an Elmwood house party in an incident of apparently senseless violence that appalled the capital city. And now it was time for his murderer, Eddie Gonzalez, to be sentenced.

"I still do forgive you, Eddie Gonzalez, although it hurts me deeply. Forgiveness gives me an assurance that God is in control, instead of me or you," said Cherisee Lucinda Cooper, Errol's mother.

Overcome by emotion, she had prosecutor Stephen Regine read her victim impact statement aloud to Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer, who was about to hand down a sentence in a prearranged plea bargain. Only God knows why Gonzalez did it, she said.

Julius Clinton, Errol's father, who described his son as "a beautiful, wonderful, talented boy," rebuked Gonzalez in a soft voice and said he hopes Gonzalez reflects on why he is in prison.

Gonzalez, 22, of 230 Magnolia St., pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and assault with a dangerous weapon, and Pfeiffer sentenced him to 50 years in prison, with 33 years to serve. The state dropped a third charge, discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, death resulting.

The bushy-haired defendant, who has a thin mustache and a small goatee, is one of five people charged in the incident. He told those who had gathered in the courtroom in the Licht Judicial Complex that he was sorry; he asked for pity.

What he got, besides Cherisee Cooper's forgiveness, was a reminder of the ruin he had caused.

"You know," said Julius Clinton, "the greatest gift a man could ever have in this world is a child. When Errol was born, he was a gift that both his mother and I cherished. … You not only destroyed his life, but you destroyed our lives, you destroyed your life and your family's lives…"

Gonzalez, his manacled hands clasped in front of him, nodded several times and bowed his head.

Cooper, a certified nurse's assistant, and Clinton, who is disabled from work, are Liberian emigrants who were married in the United States, were divorced and live apart in Providence.

Gonzalez did not say what caused him to fire a single shot from a handgun that struck Errol in his buttocks, apparently as the teenager tripped on a speed bump in the street as he ran from an alleged beating by Gonzalez and two other young men. Regine said the bullet pierced Errol's bowel, sliced through an artery and exited through his abdomen, causing him to bleed to death.

The murder occurred July 31, 2005, after Errol, his younger brother, Julius "L.J." Clinton, now 18, and a third teenager were turned away from a party at a South Side recreation center, which was at capacity, and decided to check out a house party in a triple-decker on dead-end Balcom Street.

In an interview four days after the incident, L.J. said a young man in a crowd of about 40 people outside the house - apparently not Gonzalez - gave them a dirty look and snarled, making it plain that they were not welcome. He challenged Errol, according to L.J., and then began swinging at him with his fists.

L.J. himself was punched in the face and he suffered a broken nose and eye socket.

Although the teens tried to flee, Gonzalez left a small group surrounding the fallen Errol, according to Regine, returned with a gun and fired after Errol regained his feet and was running away.

Four other men were charged, according to officials: Danilo A. Cerda, 21, of 189 Colfax St., who is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon on Errol and one count of perjury for allegedly lying to a grand jury; Neffi Crisostomo, 18, of 11 Balcom St., where the house party was going on, who is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon on Errol; Jose Rodriguez, 19, of 14 Croyland Rd., who is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon on L.J. and solicitation to intimidate a witness; and Joseph Sibilia, 21, of 181 Burnside St., who was charged with two counts of perjury, for stealing Errol's cell phone and lying about it to a grand jury.

The dangerous weapons in each charge are the defendants' hands and feet.

Sibilia entered into a plea bargain in his case and was sentenced to serve one year in prison. The other three cases are pending.

Neffi Crisostomo was shot in mid-June and his father, Ramon Crisostomo, and four young men are charged with taking revenge in a killing of the man who shot the younger Crisostomo.

gsmith@projo.com / (401) 277-7334