BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Palm Bay woman arrested Wednesday is accused of leaving the scene of a 2023 crash that left a man dead in Melbourne, according to police.
Tekayiaha Alize Hardy, 26, faces a charge of leaving the scene of a crash with death, the Melbourne Police Department said in a statement.
Hardy was arrested via warrant by Brevard County deputies after being identified as the hit-and-run vehicle’s driver and will be held without bond until her initial court appearance, the post states.
The crash occurred early Christmas Day 2023. Melbourne officers responding shortly after midnight to the area of South Harbor City Boulevard and Strawbridge Avenue located Drew Sofranko, a 23-year-old from Pennsylvania, who had been struck while crossing a road, police said.
Sofranko died at a hospital, and the driver who hit him left the scene, officials said.
Since the hit-and-run, police said they collected evidence like DNA results from Tekayiaha Hardy’s car, phone records, and video around U.S. 1 and 192.
Waiting has felt like an eternity for Doug Sofranko, who lost his son.
The crash happened just two days after Sofranko gave the best man’s speech at his dad’s wedding.
“It’s pretty much all I think about when I think about the moment, and, obviously, the person who did,” Doug Sofranko told Melbourne community correspondent James Sparvero. “But at the same time, it’s another step towards closure and seeing justice on his behalf,” the father said.
On Thursday, Judge Jonathan Skinner assigned a $100,000 bond to Hardy.
Sofranko said that amount sat well with him.
“Obviously, I would prefer no bond, but I also understand that’s unrealistic,” he said. “And, my faith right now is just all in the legal system, and hoping that it provides justice for Drew in the end.”
Sofranko said if he could talk to the suspect, he wouldn’t be able to repeat what he’d like to say on TV.
“I have a lot of hatred flowing through me for that person,” he said. “In time, that will hopefully ease, and I don’t know if forgiveness is ever in the cards.”
According to her arrest affidavit, police found the car that struck Sofranko, a white Chevy Malibu, only about a mile from the crash scene, and Hardy tried to have it towed, but police got there first.