HIALEAH, Fla. – Saturday is a dark anniversary for Derek Rosa, who turned 14 years old in an adult jail about a month ago.
It had been 14 days since his mother Irina García gave birth. She was sleeping near a crib with his newborn sister. Derek, an iMater Charter Middle School 8th-grade student, had researched the best way to kill someone and if a knife could cut through bone, police said.
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During a confession, Derek told Detective Joseph Elosegui he got out of bed. He grabbed a kitchen knife with a purple handle.
“I went to her room; I killed her,” Derek said.
The teen stabbed Garcia, 39, over 45 times and sent a selfie to a friend with his mother’s blood on his hand before calling 911 to confess on Oct. 12, 2023, police said.
Hialeah police officers responded to the apartment in Amelia Oaks and arrested him. He had just turned 13 years old.
Prosecutors filed a first-degree murder case in adult court. Correctional officers booked him on Oct. 26 at the Metrowest Detention Center. His arraignment hearing was on Oct. 31 in adult court.
Derek’s defense has asked the court to return the teen to a juvenile detention center. In December, Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Richard Hersch decided Derek must remain in the custody of the county’s Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation until his trial.
County court records show Derek has a status hearing on Dec. 31.