A King County Superior Court judge has sentenced 20-year-old Carlos Bernardez to 30 years in prison for fatally shooting rapper 29-E (Joseph Ryan) and opening fire on several other musicians during a show at Chop Suey last year.

PI.com:

Pleading guilty to first-degree murder July 8, Carlos Bernardez, 20, admitted to gunning down hip-hop performer Joseph Ryan during a show at the Chop Suey during a shooting that left two other men wounded.

The death and harm Bernardez caused that day was, in King County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell's estimation, a tragedy bound to compound itself.

By pulling the trigger, Bernardez separated two sons -- Ryan and himself -- from those that love them, Ramsdell said from the bench. It was, he said, "one more of those overall tragedies that the court unfortunately sees all too often."

Inexplicable as it was -- as much as murder can be -- usual, the killing had at least one aspect that gave Ramsdell pause; Ryan's parents, having lost their 24-year-old son for no discernable reason, wished Bernardez well.

"Don't let prison destroy you. Make something of yourself. One life lost is enough," Ryan's mother wrote in a letter read to Bernardez by the judge.