'This was a hunt': Man gets 40 years for Upper Southampton attempted homicide of teen

Last year, a Philadelphia man spent 40 minutes following around an Upper Southampton teen, before getting into his car, robbing him and threatening to kill him and his mother.

Pavel Belous "hunted" the man, in a "calculated" attempt to rob and murder the 18 year old, according to prosecutors, but he was thwarted when the victim stabbed the attacker and fled.

"I have to assume you would have carried out that, had it not been for the courage of this young man," Presiding Judge Wallace Bateman Jr. said.

On Wednesday, Bateman sentenced 38-year-old Belous to 40 to 80 years in prison for the March 11, 2021 kidnapping and attempted homicide in Upper Southampton. Belous pleaded guilty to robbery, kidnapping and attempted homicide in March.

Belous also remains charged with killing a 62-year-old man on March 5, 2021, just days before the incident in Upper Southampton. Philadelphia police allege Belous cut the victim's throat and burned down his home. He is scheduled to appear in Philadelphia court in that case in December.

While the victim in the unrelated Upper Southampton case stopped Belous from killing him and his mother, the kidnapping and the "what ifs" still haunt the victim and his family to this day.

"I don't see this going away for a while," the victim testified Wednesday.

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The victim was eating in the parking lot of a McDonald's at 338 Second Street Pike when Belous entered his car about 10:30 p.m. Belous, armed with a knife, demanded money. When the victim only gave him $20, Belous made him go to an ATM, where he withdrew $450.

Wanting more money, Belous made the victim drive him to his home on Militia Road.

While in the car, Belous told the victim he would cut his throat, rape his mother, kill her and burn their home down. Belous told the victim that he had killed people before, according to Upper Southampton police.

Before arriving at his home, the victim called his mother and told her he was bringing a "friend" over, which made her think something was off. He also secretly dialed 911 and hung up.

When the two men arrived at the home, the victim managed to grab a knife from inside his car and stab Belous before fleeing. The stabbing left Belous paralyzed.

The victim stood in front of Bateman in county court Wednesday afternoon and talked about how Belous' actions continue to affect him more than a year later. He no longer feels safe in his community. He dropped out of some of his college courses and did not want to do anything in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

"I think about it constantly," he said.

Belous sat quietly in his wheelchair as the victim explained how he is always afraid he will see Belous when he leaves the house. What the victim experienced, he said, is something he never thought would happen before. Now, he thinks it could happen again.

The victim's mother testified that their family has talked about that night multiple times. Once they talked about who Belous would have killed first had he made it into the home.

"I don't want to see this happen to anyone else again," she said.

She said the night Belous kidnapped her son was a Thursday, the night trash has to go out. Now, whenever she takes the trash out, she remembers the morning she was cleaning Belous' blood from her driveway.

"I don't know if this feeling will ever go away," she said.

When given an opportunity to speak, Belous apologized several times to the victims. At times he turned directly to both of them.

"I don't know what I would have done had someone done that to me," he said.

Pledging that something like this would never happen again, Belous said he "really messed up."

"I want to apologize," he said. "I'm sorry. I really am."

Bucks County Deputy District Attorney Thomas Ganon did not believe Belous was truly remorseful, and noted that he called the victim the wrong name when he apologized. Ganon pushed for a lengthy prison sentence, and pointed to Belous' extensive criminal history over the past roughly 20 years.

Prior attempts at rehabilitation of Belous were unsuccessful, he said. His previous crimes include carjacking and burglary.

Ganon said everything Belous did that night was "calculated," and that he could have changed his mind at any time.

"At every opportunity he chose more criminality and more severe criminality," he said.

He pointed out that Belous followed the victim for 40 minutes before getting into the car. Belous stalked the victim after encountering him at a convenience store in Philadelphia.

"This was premeditated and this was a hunt," Ganon said.

Belous, he said, pretended that he had been kidnapped and assaulted when police arrived at the home that night.

"He is entrenched in criminal thinking," Ganon said.

While Bateman acknowledged that Belous seemed sincere in his apology, the judge agreed with Ganon.

He specifically noted that Belous was "cruel" in telling the victim what he planned to do to them.

"You mentally tortured that man with impunity," he said.

The judge also mentioned that Belous' sibling was killed in a homicide years ago. Knowing what it is like to lose someone to violence, Bateman could not understand what Belous would want to do that to someone else.

"The facts of this case are particularly troubling and horrifying," he said.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Man gets prison for 'calculated' homicide attempt in Upper Southampton