WOMAN WAS 'FULL OF PROMISE'

Man Receives Life Sentence in Informants Slaying

TALLAHASSEE - Rachel Hoffman's mother spoke of her own ongoing health
problems and unhealthy denial, her father of his punishing anger and
hate.

Throughout the statements, read tearfully in court Tuesday as Andrea
Green was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the slaying of
23-year-old Hoffman, Green smirked, grinned and stared into space.

Margie Weiss of Safety Harbor and Irv Hoffman of Palm Harbor traveled
to Tallahassee to explain to the court - and to Green - how deeply
they grieve for their only child, killed in a botched drug sting in
May 2008 as she worked as a confidential informant for the Tallahassee
Police Department.

"My daughter's death is without comparison the most distressing,
heartbreaking, savage and disgusting event that has ever happened in
my life," Irv Hoffman told the court, frequently pausing to gain
control of his emotions.

Weiss, who still feels her daughter's presence in goose bumps and
butterflies, says her life has become one of "make-believe."

"Every second is an effort to avoid saying her name, obsessing over
signs of her or imagining her hugging me."

She said the viewing of Rachel's autopsy photos was horrific but
helpful.

"It challenged my desperate and irrational denial of Rachel's death,"
she said.

Sniffles in the courtroom were echoed by Circuit Judge Mark Walker,
whose voice repeatedly cracked with emotion as he expressed his sorrow
at Hoffman's parents' loss.

"There are no classes in law school ... that tell you what to say to
someone who has lost a child," Walker said. "I feel woefully
unequipped. In the photographs you showed (of Rachel) I saw a young
woman full of joy, a young woman full of life and promise."

Betty Fuentes, a mitigation and sentencing specialist, read a
statement on behalf of Green, who pleaded no contest to second-degree
murder on Feb. 10 to avoid the death penalty. His accomplice, Deneilo
Bradshaw, was found guilty of first-degree murder in December and
sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"Rachel, Deneilo and I had our lives changed because of drugs,"
Green's statement said. "That day did not benefit anyone."

Green, who was raised in foster homes and has a long arrest record
beginning in juvenile court, said in his statement that his
nervousness sometimes caused him to grin and appear to smirk.

Weiss ended her statement with a plea to meet with Green to gain an
understanding of why her daughter was shot five times and what her
final moments were like.

"Please tell me now what happened and what Rachel's last words were,"
she said. "I truly think it would help me heal. Please!"

However, under policy of the Florida Department of Corrections,
victims and their relatives aren't allowed to meet with inmates. An
exception sometimes is made if the inmate is a member of the family of
the victim - for example, if a man shot his father, his mother might
be allowed to visit him in prison.

Both parents said that with the sentencings behind them, they are
ready to focus on their civil lawsuit against the city of Tallahassee,
which contends police were negligent in their handling of the sting.

Hoffman's wire went dead and the officers charged with keeping tabs on
her lost her as she drove to meet Green and Bradshaw with $13,000 in
marked bills to buy a gun and drugs. She was shot to death on a
dead-end street in north Leon County, and her body dumped in Taylor
County.

Irv Hoffman said he blames all members of the police
department.

"I know those feelings are dark and unhealthy, but I am bitter and I
am angry at the men who killed my daughter and dumped her body in a
ditch," he said. "And I am angry at the police department that put
this entire nightmare of a fiasco in motion.