Gov. Rick Scott signed off on three bills Thursday, including HB 7131 authorizing the city of Tallahassee to pay millions to the family of a Florida State University graduate killed in a drug sting.
The city agreed to settle with Irv Hoffman and Marjorie Weiss, the parents of 23-year-old Rachel Hoffman, as a trial was about to begin in their lawsuit against the city. The settlement is for $2.6 million.
Hoffman, a Florida State University graduate, was recruited for a Tallahassee Police sting in 2008 after she was caught with marijuana and pills for which she didn't have a prescription.
Police lost track of Hoffman during the sting, and she was shot and killed.
Her body was found 36 hours later in a roadside ditch in Taylor County, roughly 50 miles away.
Deneilo Bradshaw, 26, from St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and his stepbrother-in-law Andrea Green, 29, are serving life sentences for Hoffman's murder.
Hoffman, of Safety Harbor, was working for police in a "buy-bust" operation and had been sent alone with $13,000 in marked bills to buy ecstasy, cocaine and a gun, according to records. Instead, the men killed her and stole her car, a credit card and the marked money.
Lance Block, attorney for Rachel parents, says while they were happy with the settlement it will never make up for the loss of their daughter.
"Irv will never walk his daughter down the aisle. Margie will never get to hold a grandchild in her lap," said Block. "All of the dreams and expectations and hopes that we as parents have were wiped out by, you know, alot of stupidity up here in Tallahassee."
After her death, the Florida Legislature passed "Rachel's Law," requiring police to adopt policies to protect informants. The measure also requires special training for investigators who work with informants, makes police tell informants they cannot be promised reduced sentences, and allows them to talk with a lawyer before doing anything.