Brandon Harris and Sura Sohna were the best of friends, growing up in Annapolis, Maryland. They attended the same elementary and middle schools; however, their lives went in a different direction after that.
Brandon went on to becoming a college senior while Sura was given a 14-year prison sentence.
The two never lost contact and Brandon ensured that Sura’s story was the most important part of a unique project at North Carolina’s Davidson College.
Sura can now thank Brandon and Davidson College. After advocating for him, Sura was released from jail, last week. This was 12 years earlier than his scheduled released date. The way that Harris defended him at a court hearing made a huge impact on Sohna’s sentence being re-evaluated.
Brandon had to do a study, for school, and detailed how Sura moved to the crime-stricken Robinwood neighborhood. A classmate of the boys, a teenage girl, was killed in 2016; a couple of weeks later, a young male was killed in the same community.
Additionally, at 11 years-old, Sura saw someone get killed. At 13, he observed his brother being abused by the police. He was robbed at 14 and was using Percocet by the age of 15.
Sura had stated that, “It just felt like either I have to become one of them [criminals], or I’ll be eaten.”
In 2016, Sura was charged as an adult and given a 14-year sentence for several burglaries. In 2019, he snuck out of the jail and was involved in more burglaries.
“I’m thankful and blessed. I’m glad to have this opportunity,” Sura said upon his release.
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