DAVIDSON, N.C. — As we grow older, one of the things we tend to realize the most with friendships and relationships is the art of life and how pathways tend to create their own destinations and separations.
In contrast, pathways also have the chance to cross again. Knowing that, ask yourself this: if you could cross pathways again with one of your childhood friends, who did not make the best choices in life, would you help them course-correct or leave them astray?
A Davidson College student's reconnection with a childhood friend not only led to an independent study during the COVID-19 pandemic but also helped release that friend back into society as a free man in early February 2022. The two would reconnect and communicate through letters for about two years before they met again.
From the same place with different stories
Brandon Reid, formerly Brandon Harris, is a senior at Davidson College. Reid, a Belk Scholar and two-time Student Government Association president, is from Annapolis, Maryland. Reid grew up being childhood friends with Sura Sohna, who is also from Annapolis.
The pair met in the fourth grade at Hillsmere Elementary School, and from there they would remain friends while attending Annapolis Middle School. As they started high school, Brandon would enroll in Indian Creek School, a private school in Annapolis. Sura would attend Annapolis High School, facing the difficulties and challenges that came along with living in a low-income, poverty-stricken area.
"That's when my life started to change more and he started to have his life change in better ways. So that's how we both separated from each other. We would see each other here and there," Sohna told WCNC Charlotte. "I felt like I was too far gone. Knees deep into the wrong things. So I didn't want to involve what I was into with him, because he was doing something kind of better."
Sohna ended up facing his first round in prison at the age of 16 for a string of robberies in the area. Reid remembers seeing Sohna's face in the newspapers and on the news. He also started to notice that the school-to-prison pipeline theory was a real issue plaguing the Annapolis community.
"I had heard about it before. But I was actually starting to see it because Sura and other people who I grew up with were actually following the path from school to prison because of a lack of opportunities and support and resources," Reid said.
As Sohna found himself in and out of prison, Reid relocated to Davidson, North Carolina to attend Davidson College.
An inevitable reconnection
In 2020, as the world started to maneuver through the COVID-19 pandemic, Reid, a sophomore at the time, packed his bags and headed back to Maryland as Davidson College went to virtual learning.
While back in Maryland, news began to spread about the inadequacies of people who were incarcerated as they attempted to social distance, access adequate cleaning supplies, and get masks. Knowing that he shared a personal connection with someone in prison, Reid decided to reach out to Sohna to see how he was handling the pandemic while incarcerated.
"I decided to write him a letter because I hadn't talked to him for a long time. And I didn't know much about his situation. And I felt like he didn't know much about mine, either at that point. So I wrote a letter to him, asking him how he was doing with the COVID pandemic," Reid told WCNC Charlotte. "And letting him know a lot of my life updates, letting him know that I was at Davidson, and what my goals were and what I was working towards, and also wanted to hear a lot about his life."
Reid then took the time to start asking about what Sohna was facing.
"So I asked him a lot of questions about his day-to-day lifestyle and how he was handling things. Whether he's looking forward to anything, what's keeping his mind going, things like that. I really want to know about his life situation at that point," he said.
Excited but shocked, Sohna wrote him back and the two picked up exactly where they left off. Their relationship grew from writing letters to talking over the phone and even video chatting. An inevitable reconnection for sure, but Reid felt that Sohna's story, like many others, deserved to be told.
Reid believed that by telling Sohna's story, the world would hear about the harsh reality that the school-to-prison pipeline is real and would be forced to reckon with the stories of those who are often ignored and forgotten due to their circumstances.
"I felt that there were so many untold stories, they were ignored and forgotten. And, you know, when I first saw Sura in the newspaper, back when I was in high school for his arrest, it really bothered me that people weren't willing to consider how he got to that point," said Reid. "Instead, they just wanted to blame rather than actually try to understand the circumstances and how someone gets to that place and how we can help others to avoid those kinds of situations."
"Telling the stories of the ignored and forgotten," an independent study
As Reid headed back to face-to-face learning in January 2021, he approached Professor James K. Bailey to see if Bailey would be willing to support Reid on an independent study that he wanted to conduct.
The study, which would be titled "Telling the stories of the ignored and forgotten," was initially set to focus on six stories over one semester. As Reid started the study, he discovered early on that he should just focus on objectively telling Sohna's story.
"I let him know at the beginning that it was going to be tough. I would need a pretty strong commitment from him that he would follow up on letters. And whenever he had the opportunity to talk to me on the phone, I would be asking him questions. We'd be having many uncomfortable conversations, and I let him know about these expectations. And he committed right there," Reid said.
Like any form of research, Reid had his work cut out for him as he reached out to Sohna's family, victims, and even prosecutors who worked on cases against his friend.
"I interviewed him many times through letter and phone. I interviewed his family members and I reached out to anybody who had some sort of connection to a story; some sort of relevant connection. I went through all of his public records in the courts to understand his cases," Reid told WCNC Charlotte. "I wanted to understand everything. I reached out to victims. I reached out to the person who prosecuted his case. And I really wanted to get an objective look at a situation as uncomfortable as it might have been for both of us."
As results from the research began to formulate their own identity, Reid knew that he needed to start to shift his focus on how he would present that material. Reid pitched an idea to Bailey about doing a Zoom conference, open to the public, that would allow him and Sohna to share the research that he had done over the semester. With Bailey and Sohna on board for it, Reid started to reach out to the Maryland Division of Corrections and realized the hurdles and obstacles that stood in the way of getting approval for Sohna to be present on a two-hour Zoom.
Determined to jump over every hurdle, Reid wrote a letter to Maryland's Governor Larry Hogan. Reid told Gov. Hogan more details about the project and why it was important and relevant. Hogan was excited about the project and reached out to the Division of Corrections to make it possible for Sohna to tell his story.
When WCNC Charlotte asked Sohna why he agreed to be a part of the research, he said it was all about making sure someone could hear his voice.
"I did it because I felt like I can help someone else. My words can be powerful to someone else, and help someone else to prevent them from coming to this place - or to help them be more aware of this place and to know that life can be worse for them," he said.
No longer ignored, no longer forgotten
The Zoom conference was a success. After it happened, Reid, Sohna, Sohna's family, and his attorney began to focus on the next steps of Sohna's case: filing a request for a sentence modification hearing.
Optimistic and hopeful, everyone was excited when Sohna was granted a court date in February 2022.
Despite all the improvements Sohna had made as an individual, he still felt a sense of doubt when it came to the hearing.
"I didn't really have too much hope in it. I just thought that it would take months. I thought that it would take probably a year. I didn't know if it was going to be even accepted," Sohna said. "I was so shocked that I did receive a court date, and that I actually had an opportunity."
During the court hearing, Reid and Sohna's attorney had an opportunity to speak on Sohna's behalf.
At the end of the hearing, the judge made the decision to suspend all of Sohna's sentenced time.
"It just was a surreal moment for me. I didn't know what to do. I just was so excited. And I just really couldn't believe it. I just felt like I was in a dream. I knew my family was happy," Sohna said. "I just was thinking about everybody at that moment. And just all of us being back together. It was definitely a blessing. That was a blessed day."
After spending three and a half years in prison, Sohna's sentence was suspended nearly 12 years early.
A second chance, a free chance
Only being free for a few months, Sohna is approaching life with a new outlook and embracing a new hobby he hopes to turn into a career.
While finishing up his General Educational Degree, Sohna has taken a deeper dive into photography.
"I just wanted to pick up a camera," he said. "I'd know I'd be talented with a camera because I'm always taking pictures and stuff like that. I just always did the above and beyond to take a picture. So I'd say that's why I picked up photography. It's my passion. I love doing it."
Along with a fresh start, Sohna also shares deep gratitude to Davidson College and Prof. Bailey.
"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to actually show that I am better than my situation that I was in. I'm going to do everything 10 times better than I did before, in a positive way," he said. "They blessed me with opportunities and bless me with just the love and just support. Something I never had before."
The entire experience has given Sohna a fresh start. Beyond getting behind the lens, he now feels that he has more people behind him who helped him get his second shot.
"And just it just gave me hope. Gave me just a different way of looking at life. Gave me a different way of looking at people. Gave me a different way of looking at society. It just gave me a positive outlook of just everything and just making me this brighter and better person and it's just I'm so happy that I just got Davidson College on my side," he said.
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