After killing the wrong man he eluded capture for 9 years. Now he's been sentenced.

Kyle Grinnell Sr. told a Pierce County judge Friday that if his son's killer truly was remorseful, he would have turned himself in and not fled the country for nearly a decade.

Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend seemed to agree as she sentenced Gabriel Indelicio Nevarez for killing 21-year-old Kyle Grinnell II.

When someone flees after such a crime, Arend said, "That does speak loudly to their character," to whether they're remorseful and whether they might be a danger in the future.

Then she sentenced 30-year-old Nevarez to 30 years, seven months in prison, several years above the sentence the prosecution and defense recommended.

Nevarez fatally shot Grinnell on Feb. 21, 2007, outside Grinnell's apartment on South Tyler Street.

He wasn't the target, though. Nevarez had intended to kill Grinnell's friend, who was standing next to him.

That man, who Nevarez had a long-standing grudge with, was not hurt.

After the shooting, Nevarez fled to Mexico, where cold case investigators found him. He was arrested and brought back to the United States in 2016. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last month as part of negotiations with prosecutors.

Nevarez's family wrote the court before the hearing, asking for leniency.

They said he is remorseful for his actions, and has been the sole provider for his wife and 5-year-old daughter in Mexico. He's one of nine siblings, and had a troubled childhood, the family said. His mother was a heavy drug user, which caused problems as he was growing up, they wrote the court.

Arend said she had sympathy for both the Nevarez and Grinnell families.

But when it comes to troubled childhoods, she noted, "The vast majority of them don't grow up to be murderers."

Grinnell Sr. also wrote to Arend ahead of sentencing. He said he had owned the apartment building where his son lived, and where he died.

"He was murdered in front of his own door," the elder Grinnell wrote the court. "He was trying to surprise me by pressure washing the sidewalks and driveway."

He said his son, who he knew as "Buddy," was a gifted artist, and that they had enjoyed the outdoors together when he was a teenager.

Nevarez, he said, "is only sorry that he was finally caught."

Nevarez was charged with a 2004 shooting that injured a girl at a Tacoma school in the leg. He was found incompetent to stand trial then.

Also charged in connection to Grinnell's death was Windy Michelle Ware. Prosecutors said she bought methamphetamine from Nevarez and led him to Grinnell's home, where she saw the person he had a grudge with.

She was sentenced to two years, five months in prison, and released in 2010.

This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 5:46 PM.