Pubdate: Wed, 17 Dec 2008
Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Copyright: 2008 Tallahassee Democrat
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/hdEs6Z0o
Website: http://www.tallahassee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/444
Author: Jeff Burlew and Jennifer Portman
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n664/a05.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/rachel+hoffman

FAMILY AND FRIENDS REMEMBER RACHEL HOFFMAN ON HER BIRTHDAY

Family and loved ones of the late Rachel Hoffman will gather today at
her Tampa grave to pray, sing songs in Hebrew and release 24 white
doves in her memory.

Hoffman would have turned 24 today. She was shot and killed May 7
while working as a confidential drug informant for the Tallahassee
Police Department.

"We are going to celebrate her life," said her father, Irv
Hoffman.

Friends and family will also remember her online for 24 hours on the
Rachel Hoffman Birthday page on Facebook. And loved ones will gather
at the Double Door Inn, a live-music club in Charlotte, N.C.

"For those who knew Rachel, this will be a night in love and memory of
a girl full of joy (and) happiness, and we hope you can be there,"
wrote musician Zach Deputy in a message that appeared on Facebook. "If
you can't make it, you can still wear a purple hat wherever you are
and honor a friend that we all love and will miss greatly."

Deputy, who will perform tonight at the club, added that Hoffman has
close friends in Charlotte, including a former roommate. Hoffman was
known to wear her fuzzy purple hat at music shows.

Irv Hoffman said a 12-string guitarist will play during the memorial
in Tampa. A rabbi and cantor will pray and sing. Later, loved ones
will gather at Hoffman's home for lunch and a vanilla-and-strawberry
shortcake from Publix, something Rachel Hoffman loved. The cake will
be adorned with the message, "Happy Birthday Rachel. We love you forever."

"It's certainly a very hard time of year," said Hoffman through tears.
"This is the first birthday without her ... Rachel was a really
beautiful person."

Two men charged with murder in her death are awaiting trial in Leon
County.

One TPD officer who recruited Hoffman as an informant, Ryan Pender,
was fired, and four senior officers were suspended for two weeks
without pay. Chief Dennis Jones and Deputy Chief John Proctor were
reprimanded. Pender is appealing his firing.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin