A 29-year-old man has been sentenced to more than 31 years in prison for a fatal shooting at a crowded festival in St. Paul's Como Park that appeared linked to a gang rivalry.

Nougai Xiong, 29, of St. Paul, was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court on Friday in connection with the July 1, 2018, killing of Jacky G. Vue, 19, of St. Paul, at the two-day Hmong Freedom Festival.

Xiong was convicted of second-degree murder and committing crimes for the benefit of a gang. With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Xiong will serve slightly more than 20 years in prison and the balance on supervised release.

Xiong's cousin, Yang H. Xiong, 29, of La Crosse, Wis., was given a seven-year term in October for aiding and abetting the murder after the fact.

The shooting took place near concession stands and the swimming pool at the festival, which draws tens of thousands of people from around the world.

According to the prosecution:

The gunfire, which erupted after young men were fighting with umbrellas, sent patrons scrambling for cover. Police found Vue on the ground behind a vendor's tent, with bullet wounds to the chest and right leg.

One gang member told an officer the fight occurred because the cousins were Asian Crips and his group were Oroville Mono Boys.

Yang Xiong told police someone hit him from behind and asked his gang affiliation. He denied being in a gang but said he recognized some of the combatants from a confrontation about two months earlier at a party in Wausau, Wis.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482