2 men sentenced to 59 years in 'Hoop Dreams' star shooting trial

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Two men were sentenced to 59 years on Thursday for the shooting that left a Chicago high school basketball coach paralyzed.

Shawn Harrington was injured while shielding his daughter from the gunfire as he was taking her to school in 2014.

A man who was athletic and active in his daughters' lives had his life turned upside down. That's what he told a judge on Thursday before the judge issued a sentence above the minimum guidelines set by state law.

Friends and relatives of the men sentenced did not care to comment leaving court.

Deandre Thompson and Cedryck Davis were sentenced to 59 years in prison for attempted murder of a father and daughter.

On a January morning in 2014, Chicago police responded to two people in a car targeted by gunmen at Hamlin and Augusta.

Harrington was in the vehicle taking his then 15-year-old daughter to school.

Harrington was Marshall High School's assistant basketball coach and was on the Marshall team featured in the 1994 documentary "Hoop Dreams."

He was shot in the back and paralyzed as he protected his daughter from gunfire.

In January of this year, a jury convicted Thompson and Davis for firing on the car that they mistakenly believed was that of a rival.

Harrington was not in court on Thursday but one of the prosecutor's read his victim's impact statement before the sentencing.

In it Harrington wrote:

"I just hope these defendants understand how they have impacted so many people. Everything in my life has turned upside down because of mistaken identity. Not being able to run down the court has been the most stressful thing I've ever dealt with in my life."

Attorneys for Thompson and Davis had filed appeals.

Thompson's attorney spoke after the sentencing.

"The minimum is 52. That's a very long sentence for someone who wasn't even there. We plan a very vigorous appeal. He was not there when the shooting happened. And we plan on proving that in the appellate court, Marc Gottreich, for Thompson's defense attorney, said.

Harrington's daughter also wrote a victim's impact statement.

She told the judge that her whole life has been affected by senseless violence.

The judge also noted how violence like this one make citizens feel unsafe even taking their kids to school.