MELBOURNE, Fla. — Doug Sofranko does his best to hide the pain that he said ruined his life.
By now, the father should have celebrated his son’s graduation from boot camp, spent time lounging by the TV watching Miami Dolphins games and enjoyed other milestones that come with having an adult child.
All that was taken away early Christmas morning, 2023, when Drew Sofranko was killed while crossing S. Harbor City Boulevard in Melbourne, 36 hours after Drew served as the Best Man in his father’s wedding.
“He gave a phenomenal best man speech that can’t really -- I watched it one time, but it’s, it’s too hard,” Sofranko said.
Sofranko waited 18 months for justice to come, and finally got a small taste of it Wednesday when police announced they arrested 26-year-old Tekayiaha Alize Hardy for the hit-and-run death.
The identity of the suspect was no surprise: investigators caught up to Hardy’s car minutes after the crash. The lag came from waiting for enough DNA evidence to be compiled to put her at the crash and behind the wheel.
For Sofranko, the announcement came with waves of emotions.
“There was the obvious happiness, excitement that it occurred,” he explained. “But then it brings back the old memories of the tragedy of the day, the sadness and anger -- a lot of anger I have towards her just for being… unaccountable for her actions.”
Hardy was charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death. Other details of the investigation and her arrest were not immediately available Wednesday, though court documents said she wouldn’t be eligible for release from jail until she faced a judge Thursday.
Sofranko said he will be watching and has partially prepared his victim impact statement for when she goes to trial or accepts a plea deal.
Maybe in time I’ll learn to forgive her, but I can’t see that far in the future at this point,” he said. “I thought, if Drew was sitting right next to me or sitting right next to her, his question to her would probably be like, ‘How can I help you? Like, how can I help you get through this?’ That’s the type of person he was, which is a better man than me.”
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