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Hit-and-run victim is laid to rest
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Posted on Aug 20 2021
The 20-year-old female victim in the Marpi hit-and-run nearly a month ago was laid to rest following a ceremony at the Mount Carmel Cathedral yesterday morning. See video here.
Friends, family, and supporters of the JusticeForSophia movement came out one last time to see off 20-year-old Sophia Patricia Aldan Demapan, the victim in a fatal hit-and-run along Route 30 in Marpi.
The ceremony started with a rosary at 8:30am followed immediately by a public viewing. The burial Mass began at around 10:30am before Demapan’s casket was escorted out of the cathedral by dozens of her friends and immediate and extended family members.
Demapan is survived by her son, Skyler Jordan Demapan; her mother, Krystal Aldan; her father, Ignacio Demapan; and her four siblings: Gordon Demapan, Ignacio Demapan III, Bernard Demapan, and Warren Dempan.
Saipan Tribune learned from sources that Demapan’s body was only released from the Commonwealth Health Center morgue last Wednesday, a week since the alleged driver of the vehicle that struck her was arrested.
As a standard protocol, the bodies of individuals involved in ongoing investigations are not released until the case has officially been closed.
Demapan was found lifeless along the side of Route 30 in Marpi on July 27, after the Department of Public Safety responded on July 27 at around 9:52pm to a report about an unresponsive individual lying on the shoulder of the road just north of the former Mariana Resort & Spa.
A Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services report states that firefighters found multiple lacerations and deformities on Demapan’s lifeless body. In addition, the officers also noticed that she sustained multiple fractures and severe injuries to her head. DFEMS transported Demapan to CHC at 11:45pm where she was pronounced dead at 1am by Dr. Bryan Strickland.
DPS made an arrest over a week following the incident but the case was later sealed after the Superior Court decided to try as a minor the alleged driver of the vehicle that hit Demapan.
The case exploded on social media due to the family’s efforts to find answers, which resulted in the JusticeForSophia movement.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to insert video clips from funeral.
