Student reconnected with childhood friend in prison—then became the reason he got out 12 years early
Kindness can come in different ways. Sometimes it comes from people who were once absent from your life, and their return can bring new meaning or even a life-altering change. That’s exactly what happened when childhood friends Brandon Harris and Sura Sohna reconnected in an unexpected situation that changed their lives for the better.
Harris and Sohna were childhood friends from Annapolis, Maryland, who attended the same elementary and middle schools. As kids, they were inseparable; from spending recess together to playing sports, they had each other's backs in everything. However, their paths eventually diverged when they took different paths. Harris graduated from a private high school and later pursued a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Davidson College in North Carolina, where he received a full-tuition scholarship as a Beck Scholar, an award given to students who excel in academics and leadership. His academic achievements extended further, as he was also elected student body president twice.
However, for Sohna, things did not unfold as smoothly as they did for Harris. The young boy ran into legal troubles as early as age 12, when he was arrested for stealing a bike. By 2018, Sohna was facing 15 years in prison for first-degree burglary. His life took a turn when Harris reached out to him in 2020, after learning about the struggles inmates faced in staying safe during the COVID-19 outbreak. The two friends reconnected and began exchanging letters, which marked the beginning of Harris’s project to explore the structural challenges and generational struggles that had led them down different paths. Harris transformed his project into advocacy, which ultimately led to a court hearing to contest Sohna’s sentence. To their joy, Sohna was granted release on February 8, 2022, 12 years early.
Speaking to ABC News, Sohna expressed his heartfelt gratitude to his childhood friend Harris for giving him a second chance to turn his life around. Reflecting on the hardships he endured growing up, Sohna described his experiences of homelessness and unstable housing. "Growing up, I didn't really have anything. I didn't have much. I would be picked on for not having things, and I felt like, instead of being a victim of circumstances, I should become a victimizer and start doing negative things." Harris’s research began when he set out to study Sohna's life in the "most objective way possible." With the guidance of a professor at Davidson College, he interviewed the victims of Sohna’s crimes, the arresting officers, prosecutors, as well as Sohna and his family. He then compiled his findings into a presentation and later interviewed Sohna, allowing participants to ask questions. During his research, Harris became convinced that Sohna was a "victim of a system," one that had pushed him into situations he should never have had to face growing up.
Harris' statement highlights the findings made in a study authored by the National Institute of Justice in 2017, which explored the pathways between child maltreatment and adult criminal involvement. The findings indicated that child abuse and neglect increase the risk of later forms of antisocial behavior, including violence perpetration and crime in adulthood. Noting a metaphor which supported Sohna's case, Harris revealed, "There's a metaphor that got used a lot in court that day, and that was 'you can take a horse to water, but you can't force them to drink.' So we told the judge that Sura has been drinking over the past year and a half working with me, and he's ready to drink for the judge if given the opportunity." Sohna, who participated in the hearing, read a speech that the judge, which Harris describes as "amazing."
Calling the day he was released from prison the “most beautiful day he ever had,” Sohna now looks forward to completing his GED course, which he began while incarcerated. A passionate and creative individual, he hopes to pursue a career in film production, photography, and acting. As for Harris, he plans to attend law school to continue his advocacy work. While Sohna cannot erase his past, reconnecting with his childhood friend Harris has allowed him to make amends and choose a brighter future.