John Jefferson
Inset: Braylon Hardges (WOIO). Background: Steven Sopko (WEWS).
An Ohio teen learned his fate for the killing of a 14-year-old boy shot 13 times in the back after leaving the killer’s girlfriend’s house.
Steven Sopko, 17, was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison with parole possible after 31 years for killing Braylon Hardges, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley announced in a press release. He was tried as an adult and found guilty on Oct. 25 of aggravated murder, murder and felonious assault.
At Sopko’s sentencing, the victim’s mother, Seaerra LeFlore, held her son’s remains in an urn as she addressed the court for her victim impact statement, local CBS affiliate WOIO reported from the courtroom.
“My baby would have had so much to offer,” she said through tears.
Seaerra LeFlore holds the remains of her son Braylon Hardges in an urn at the sentencing for her son’s killer (WOIO).
“I wanted the world to know what he did to my baby. That’s what I’m left with. This is all I’ve got,” she said, local ABC affiliate WEWS reported.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Fuerst upbraided Sopko.
“This is a sentence that’s meant not only to protect the public but to punish you for this cruel and brutal offense,” Fuerst said, WEWS reported. “It’s way beyond youthful indiscretion or bad judgment.”
Hardges was killed on Nov. 5, 2023. Sopko, then 16, and Braylon were at Sopko’s girlfriend’s house near East 90th Street and Edmunds Avenue in Cleveland, prosecutors said.
As Hardges and Sopko left the residence together and began walking down the street, Sopko bent down and let Braylon walk in front of him. Sopko then stood up and fired 12 shots into Braylon’s back, waited until he fell to the ground, leaned over him, and fired again into his back, authorities said.
Sopko then fled the scene and went back to his girlfriend’s house. Braylon died at a hospital.
Investigators said they linked Sopko to the crime through phone, social media records and ballistic evidence, and the Cleveland Division of Police sought him for aggravated murder.
He was arrested more than seven weeks after the killing, on Jan. 4, 2024, by members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) in Parma, south of Cleveland.
During the arrest, he tried to barricade himself in a house before surrendering.
The motive for the crime is unclear.
“I wanted him to say why. I think the world wants to know why,” LeFlore said, WEWS reported.
The victim’s GoFundMe page said his life was taken way too early.
“Braylon gave great hugs and showed large amounts of compassion to those he cared about,” the page said. “He had big dreams for himself and wanted nothing more than to create a better life for himself and his family. Braylon’s death was very unexpected.”
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