In a recent turn of events, a Cleveland teen has been condemned to a lengthy prison term for the fatal shooting of a younger boy last year. Steven Sopko, now 17, received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 31 years for the murder of 14-year-old Braylon Hardges. The sentencing was handed down last Thursday, per information from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office.
According to the prosecutor's assertion, the tragic incident unfolded on November 5, 2023, when Sopko, who was 16 at the time, lured Hardges out of his girlfriend's house situated near East 90th Street and Edmunds Avenue in Cleveland. Allowing Hardges to walk ahead, Sopko reportedly stood up and unleashed a barrage of 12 bullets into Hardges's back. While the boy collapsed, Sopko fired another shot and then returned to his girlfriend's residence.
Further investigation by the CPD's Homicide Unit, which involved phone and social media records, as well as ballistic evidence, eventually implicated Sopko in the crime, leading to his arrest on January 4 by the U.S. Marshal's Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force. He was found guilty by a jury last Friday of one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, and two counts of felonious assault.
The justice system handled Sopko's case through a judicial process. Following a probable cause hearing, Judge Thomas O'Malley of the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court saw fit to transfer the case to the adult court on March 5. Judge Nancy Fuerst ultimately sentenced Sopko in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.
