ANA Demapan and Sonya Demapan organized a roadside protest/gathering that started last week on Friday across from the judicial building and police headquarters for their cousin, 20-year-old Sophia Aldan Demapan, who was fatally struck by a vehicle on the night of July 27, 2021.
Ana Demapan told Variety that she and her sister “want Sophia’s case to be taken seriously. She is our baby cousin. We just want the truth and the full story so that we as her family can have closure and peace.”
She said they will hold protest actions “until the end of the month or longer if we feel like it.”
On her Facebook page, Ana Demapan said they will again gather at the Civic Center roadside on Friday, Aug. 20, from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
Sophia Aldan Demapan was laid to rest Thursday morning.
On Aug. 9, 2021, Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio held a closed-door bail hearing for the 17-year-old defendant who was identified as the operator of the vehicle that struck and killed Sophia A. Demapan.
Because the case is a juvenile matter, the name of the defendant and information about the case are being withheld.
According to the Department of Public Safety, on Aug. 7, at about 1:32 p.m., an arrest warrant was signed and issued by Judge Kim-Tenorio for the charges of racing on the highway, speeding, reckless driving, operator’s failure to exercise due care, accident, failure to report an accident, and homicide by vehicle. Bail was set at $100,000 for the 17-year-old defendant.
On the same day, at about 5:09 p.m., police executed the warrant and transported the minor to the Department of Corrections where he was detained.
According to Commonwealth, law, homicide by vehicle is punishable up to the 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000.
Some community members who declined to be identified said the defendant should be tried as an adult, adding that authorities should not be perceived as “protecting an influential family.”
Signs and banners installed by the friends and family members of Sophia Aldan Demapan are seen in the Civic Center area across from the judicial building and police headquarters in Susupe.
