Gunman in Halloween shooting gets 35 years

A Spokane man who shot and killed another man outside a downtown bar after a Halloween celebration in 2008 was sentenced today to 35 years in prison.

Jonathan H. Espinoza received 339 months for first-degree murder and 93 months for first-degree assault, police said in a news release.

Espinoza, 26, killed Joshua D. Ridgely, 22, and injured two of Ridgely’s friends, Ryan R. Jackson and Michelle M. Wilcox, in a shooting outside The Blvd Tavern on Nov. 1, 2008.

Espinoza opened fire on a crowd after grabbing a gun from a friend, Matthew R. Jones. Jones, 26, told police he’d fired one shot into the air before Espinoza grabbed the weapon and said “This is how you do it.”

Jones pleaded guilty last summer to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Past coverage:

April 26, 2010: Shooter pleads guilty in Halloween murder

June 11, 2009: Man pleads guilty in killing

Nov. 3, 2008: Shooting victim always wore smile