A 13-year-old Florida boy who was accused of stabbing his mother to death in their Hialeah apartment is being tried as an adult as his family appeared before a bond court judge Friday to plead for a second chance, according to reports.
Prosecutors will indict Derek Rosa for first-degree murder after reviewing evidence that was presented to the Miami-Dade grand jury.
This indictment automatically places his case into the adult felony court system. Rosa will not be facing the death penalty, but he could face up to life in prison for his mom’s murder.
During a bond court hearing Friday, Rosa’s father and grandmother testified on the 13-year-old’s behalf hoping he would be allowed to go home and remain under house arrest.
In over 20 letters sent to the court, Rosa’s father described the teen as a respectful honor roll student. He said that the victim’s mother helped raise his son and that he was a good kid who was well-loved by his friends.
The father said he did not know what led to this incident, and added that after being in the military for 22 years, he had taught Rosa good values.
“It’s hard for us to explain how this occurred,” Jose Rosa said. “It’s difficult, but I guess what we are asking for another opportunity, a second chance to help him grow – put this behind him and say we have your back – we are here to support you.”
His father pleaded for a second chance and said that the grandmother would even be willing to move in with him to help with the teen.
Rosa was denied bond Friday. The family’s attorney will request for an Arthur hearing in the hopes he will get some sort of bond. The teen has been assigned a judge and his arraignment has been set for next Tuesday.
The hearing comes just days after the chilling 911 calls were released of Rosa contacting police after the killing.
The fatal stabbing happened back on Oct. 12 at an apartment at 211 West 79th Place. Hialeah Police said the teen stabbed his 39-year-old mother to death in her bedroom next to a crib where the woman’s newborn baby was sleeping.
The heavily redacted 911 call released Tuesday details the moments when the teen reported the killing. At various points in the call, the dispatcher is heard asking the teen why he killed his mom, and the teen’s responses are redacted.
The teen later told detectives he stabbed his mother while she slept, according to an arrest report. He took photos of his mother’s body and sent them to a friend on social media, and told the same friend over the phone that he killed her, the report said.
“This is heartbreaking, I never would have imagined something like this, a 13-year-old child taking his mother’s life,” Hialeah Police spokesman Eddie Rodriguez said. “It’s a very sad story.”
Rodriguez said the baby is the teen’s half-sister. He said the mother’s husband, the teen’s stepfather, is a truck driver who was out of the state when the killing happened but was on his way back home.
In the 911 call, the teen tells the dispatcher that the stepfather is trying to call him and calling his mother’s phone.
Neighbors identified the woman as Irina Garcia and that she had just given birth to the baby a few days prior.
Rodriguez said the teen is an 8th grader at iMater Academy in Hialeah.
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