A 13-year-old Florida boy, Derek Rosa, has been charged with first-degree murder as an adult after he allegedly stabbed and killed his mother while his 14-day-old baby sister lay in a crib next to her.
Rosa, from Hialeah, Florida, is accused of murdering his mother, Irena Garcia, 39, in her bedroom last Thursday, October 12.
When responding officers arrived on the scene, Garcia was lying dead with multiple stab wounds to the neck as her newborn daughter lay unharmed nearby her.
The young teen will be tried as an adult. He’s being held at the Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation facility.
Rosa’s father and grandmother appeared on behalf of the juvenile in court on Friday with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office officials confirming a grand jury has formally charged him.
Emotional pleas for the young boy were heard in court with his father making the case that the incident was out of character.
‘It’s very unfortunate that this tragedy occurred,’ said his father, ‘but this child is very humble, very peaceful and no one could imagine that this would ever happen.’
Rosa has been ordered to be held without bond and transferred to the Metro West Detention Center.
He’ll remain there until the judge reviews the defence’s request to return the 13-year-old to juvenile custody.
Lt. Eddie Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the Hialeah Police Department, told WPLG-TV the honours student called 911 just after 11.30 pm to report that he had ‘just murdered his mother.’
A copy of the dispatch call was also released by police a few days before the first hearing.
In the transcript, the dispatcher can be heard asking Rosa, ‘Why did you kill your mom?’ but no response was recorded.
Rosa allegedly told the dispatcher that he’d taken pictures of his dead mother and sent them to his friends.
He is heard saying: ‘I took pictures and I told my friends about it. Is that bad?’
It was claimed he also said that he was ‘very sad’ and wanted to ‘shoot himself with a gun.’
Police believe the boy had waited until his mother had fallen asleep and then stabbed her multiple times.
Rosa is an honor student at iMater Charter Middle/High School.
Lieutenant Rodriguez said it was ‘not what you’d think or expect walking into that home or seeing that crime scene.’
Footage from the scene showed the boy walking out of the apartment as he was taken into police custody.
One neighbor, Lazaro Rodriguez, said: ‘I was shocked, just shocked by the news.
‘He was always with his mom, calm, he would help her carry packages or shopping bags.
‘I never saw anything abnormal with him. I don’t know what could’ve happened.’
Rodriguez told Local 10 News last week that the boy had no history of mental health issues and police had not been to the family’s apartment before.
He said: ‘Neighbors don’t know of any problems inside the home. So this has detectives and us dumbfounded.’
Rosa lived in the apartment with his mother, newborn sister, and his stepfather, who works as a truck driver.
Rosa was alone in the apartment with his baby sister and their mother on Thursday evening. His stepfather was reportedly away in Georgia at the time.
Other family members were seen arriving at the apartment after Rosa was taken into custody.
Officials said his baby sister is now with their grandmother. Rosa is set to face a judge in an arraignment hearing next week.
