Harold John Young walked into the main courtroom of the Cortland County Courthouse on Thursday. Young was sentenced to 25 years in prison in connection to the fatal stabbing of David O. Sears-Lopez in 2021. (Photo provided by Kevin L. Smith of The Cortland Voice).
A man who fatally stabbed a male victim in 2021 and was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in January was sentenced to 25 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision in Cortland County Court on Thursday.
Young received a sentencing for each conviction, which will be concurrent to each other. This includes:
- First-degree manslaughter – 25 years in prison, 5 years of post-release supervision
- First-degree assault – 15 years in prison, 5 years of post-release supervision
- Third-degree criminal possession of a weapon – 3.5 to 7 years in prison
Cortland County judge Julie Campbell noted via the pre-sentencing report of Young’s “bleak criminal history,” which spans across 40 years in five different states.
Young was also sentenced on Thursday as a second felony offender. His prior felony conviction was second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance back in April 2015. Young served two years in prison, along with three years of post-release supervision for this conviction.
Young declined to comment in court on Thursday, but requested an appeal of his sentencing.
Originally charged with second-degree murder in October 2021, Young stabbed David O. Sears-Lopez with a knife on Maple Avenue in the city of Cortland. Sears-Lopez, an ex-boyfriend of one of Young’s daughters, got into an argument with Young that turned physical.
Sears-Lopez suffered a stab wound from the incident. He was airlifted to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse from Guthrie Cortland Medical Center for further emergency treatment. Following unsuccessful surgery, Sears-Lopez died from the stab wound.
