A 13-year-old teenager from Hialeah, Florida is facing first-degree murder charges for killing his mother as she was sleeping next to her newborn baby girl.
Derek Rosa has pleaded not guilty to the brutal killing of his mother, Irina Garcia, 39, who was found with over 40 stab wounds on October 12, 2023.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Richard Hersch ordered Rosa to be confined to an adult jail, the Miami-Dade Metro West Detention Center, until his trial begins, a date for which is yet to be set.
During a pre-trial hearing on December 15, 2023, a recording was played in which Rosa is heard confessing to the murder of his mother. He described waking up, grabbing a kitchen knife, and then killing her while she was sleeping. This confession led to his detention in the adult facility.
Rosa had sent a selfie with bloodied hands to a friend shortly after the murder. A haunting image from a baby monitor, showing his mother holding her 14-day-old daughter moments before the attack, was also released by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
The 911 call to report the murder was made by Rosa himself, in which he stated, “She’s dead, miss.”
An investigator testified that Rosa’s online search history included queries about the carotid artery and the best place to stab someone.
Rosa’s mental health was also a point of discussion, with Dr. Gina Bettica testifying that he is autistic and has ADHD, and had expressed suicidal thoughts after his arrest. Rosa’s attorneys have not attributed the murder to mental health issues.