Timothy Hoffman died in a motorcycle crash on the fifth anniversary of his daughter's murder, Cynthia "CeCe" Hoffman, 19, was bound with tape and "executed" by the girl she consodered her best friend, the district attorney said during the criminal trial
A memorial motorcycle ride meant to honor the life of an Alaskan teenager brutally murdered by her best friend ended in tragedy last week after the victim's father died in a crash.
Timothy Hoffman, 58, died after losing control of his motorcycle while riding through the city of Wasilla on June 2, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Also injured was his wife, Jeannie Hoffman, who was riding on the back of the motorcycle. Jeannie, who was wearing a full-face helmet, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition after suffering a head injury in the crash. A family member tells Inside Edition Digital that she is now listed as stable but has "severe head trauma" and "is not doing well."
The couple was riding in the fifth annual CeCe Celebration Ride for Justice, which honored Hoffman's 19-year-old daughter Cynthia "CeCe" Hoffman. The annual ride made a stop at Thunderbird Falls, which is where CeCe was murdered by a group of teenagers, including the girl she considered to be her best friend.
Hoffman is survived by his wife Jeannie; four daughters Samantha, Kimberly, Sydney Hoffman and Ryah Jenkins; and his three sons Timothy S Hoffman Jr. II, Alex and Jared Lopez. He is preceded in death by his daughter CeCe and son Timothy S. Hoffman Jr.
In a Facebook post about his daughter and the ride shared just hours before his death, Hoffman wrote: "Today 5 years ago on June 2nd my daughter was taken from me. Today we ride for Justice to make sure they don't get out. Thank you Lord for giving me the strength to guide my family through this, and thank you lord for bringing my family together for this. God bless, so come one come all drive or ride what you like."
He previously spoke with Inside Edition Digital about his daughter in 2019, saying: “She had a lot of people who loved her. She just wanted to hang out and she just wanted to be happy.”
Tributes have been pouring in for Hoffman and a GoFundMe created by his bother Gregory is hoping to raise funds for a memorial service.
This year the ride was meant to be a celebration of life after CeCe finally got justice, her father said before his death.
That is because of the conviction and sentencing of Denali Dakota Skye Brehmer, the person who orchestrated CeCe's murder after a man in Indiana offered her $9 million for footage of a murder according to the Anchorage District Attorney's Office. CeCe, who had developmental disabilities according to her father, considered Brehmmer to be her best friend.
Brehmer and her accomplice Kayden McIntosh were the last two people to ever see Hoffman alive, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.
McIntosh told detectives the three "were hanging out and all agreed to duct tape CeCe and take photographs," according to the complaint.
CeCe "started panicking and threatening to call the police on them," McIntosh told police, according to the complaint.
McIntosh said that he "shot CeCe" and pushed her "twitching" body into a river, so he "does not know if she died from the gunshot wound or from drowning," alleges the complaint.
The Anchorage Police Department (APD) said in a statement that they later learned an Indiana man they identified as Darin Mitchell Schilmiller allegedly offered to pay Brehmer "$9 million or more to commit the murder and send him videos and photographs of the murder."
Brehmer then asked a few friends to help her carry out the murder in exchange for a significant sum of money for their part in the planning and/or execution of the murder, said the APD.
But officials said Schilmiller did not have that money. He pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation to commit murder in the first degree in the case and received a sentence of 99 years in January, according to the Anchorage District Attorney's Office.
The first to enter a guilty plea in the case was Caleb Allen Russell Leyland, who Brehmer promised to pay $500,000 for supplying her with a vehicle, according to the complaint. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in November and is facing anywhere from 25 to 75 years in person at his sentencing in June.
McIntosh plead guilty to second-degree murder in May after making a deal with prosecutors that saw all other charges against him dropped. He will be sentenced in November and is facing 30 to 85 years in prison.
Brehmer and Schilmiller also pleaded guilty to a separate federal charge of conspiracy to produce child pornography in July of last year, according to the Department of Justice, for which they were both sentenced to 15 years in prison.
McKay said at Brehmer's sentencing that she may not have fired the bullet that ended Cynthia's life, but she bore the brunt of the responsibility for the heinous act.
"She executed Cynthia Hoffman in a murder-for-hire plot. She conspired with numerous other individuals in and outside of Alaska, including juveniles, forever altering everybody’s life," McKay, Jr. said at the sentencing hearing. "She may not have pulled the trigger, but this never would have happened if it weren’t for Denali Brehmer.”
The judge overseeing the case said while passing down his sentence that the video of Cynthia's death was "one of the most difficult pieces of evidence I’ve had to watch in this position."
He then said that he hoped that sentencing Brehmer to 99 years with no credit for time served would be a deterrence to others.
