BRIGHTON - A gang member who shot into a group of rivals last year, wounding a teenage girl and severing her spine, was sentenced Tuesday to 35 years in prison.

An Adams County jury convicted Cosme Garcia, 19, in May of attempted murder and using a firearm in a violent crime. Garcia was given 30 years for the attempted murder of Desaree Medina and five years for the second offense.

Medina, who was 18 when she was shot nearly a year ago, is paralyzed from the waist down. She was not the intended target, according to the evidence. Instead, it appeared that her boyfriend, who belonged to a rival street gang and was not hurt, was meant to be hit, according to the victim and other witnesses.