A Miami-Dade courtroom fell silent Friday as 15-year-old Derek Rosa learned he would spend most of his adult life in prison for killing his mother in their Hialeah apartment. Rosa was sentenced to 25 years in state prison and 20 years on probation after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his mother, Irina Garcia. Prosecutors claim Rosa, who was 13 at the time of the October 2023 attack, stabbed Garcia 46 times while she slept. Her newborn daughter, sleeping in a nearby cot, was unharmed. Rosa said only two words to the court: “I’m sorry,” before Judge Richard Hersch accepted her plea.
Plea deal and sentence
On January 16, Rosa amended his plea, accepting a compromise that avoided a first-degree murder trial and a probable life sentence. According to the arrangement, he will serve 25 years in state prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release. According to Local10, as part of the restrictions, the court ordered him to have no contact with his stepfather or his little sister.
What prosecutors say
During the hearing, prosecutors presented evidence that they claimed left little room for dispute. They showed audio and court documents proving that after the stabbing, Rosa called 911 and eventually confessed to the murder in a taped police interview. According to investigators, he photographed Garcia’s body and took a selfie of his bloodied hand before sending them to a buddy. A forensic examination of his phone revealed unsettling internet searches such as “where is the best place to stab someone” and “can a knife cut through bone,” according to Oxygen.
Family reaction in court
The most emotional moment in court was when Rosa’s stepfather, Frank Ramos, addressed him personally. Ramos called Garcia “a loving mother” and that the killing had “destroyed” their family. According to NBC 6 South Florida, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle stated that Rosa “admitted” to the stabbing, and prosecutors contended that the evidence to support that statement was compelling.
Legal context
Rosa’s defense team attempted to keep his police statements out of court by trying to suppress them, but a judge denied the request before the plea. According to CourtTV, the plea agreement requires the court to review Rosa’s mental health needs prior to any future parole, which may entail residential treatment. Rosa averted a potential life sentence by pleading guilty to second-degree murder, but she will still face decades in prison.
Aftermath
According to public documents and local reports, Rosa was transferred from the Metro West Detention Center to the Suwannee Correctional Institution in northern Florida. According to Univision, state records show that his expected release date is October 5, 2048. The case continues to reverberate around Hialeah, as neighbors and family members attempt to reconcile the awful details with the calm adolescent they thought they knew.
Leave a Reply