MIAMI (Court TV) — A teenager accused of brutally murdering his mother while she slept held his ears and squirmed in his seat as evidence was played in court ahead of his trial.
Derek Rosa holds his ears as videos and audio were played in court during a hearing on Jan. 5, 2026. (Court TV)
Derek Rosa, now 15, had just turned 13 when he allegedly stabbed his mother, Irina Garcia, to death in her bed in their Hialeah home on Oct. 12, 2023. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder. At a court hearing that began on Jan. 5, his attorneys fought for evidence of statements he made to the police, in which he appears to confess, to be suppressed ahead of his trial.
Rosa called 911 himself to report his mother’s murder. As the call played in court, Rosa sat with his head down, eyes closed and fingers plugging his ears.
“Miss, I shot my mom,” Rosa told the 911 operator. “My mom died….She was sleeping and I stabbed her in the throat and in the back.”
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Rosa’s attorneys have emphasized his juvenile status, arguing that he was still a child at the time of the murder. Multiple times on the call with 911, Rosa is unable to give his address, saying he only knows that “it says 201 on the door of the apartment.” On the call, the operator tries to guide Rosa to find mail in the home that might offer a clue to his address, as Rosa continues talking about his mother. “She bled out all over the floor.”
When the dispatcher asked Rosa why he killed his mother, he responded, “I didn’t want to be here no more. I didn’t want to be alive no more.” Rosa refused to check whether his mother was still breathing. “She’s dead. I stabbed her. I stabbed her more than five times.”
Testifying on Monday, Det. Joseph Elosegui, who responded to the scene, said Garcia suffered multiple stab wounds and that the autopsy found one wound was only 1mm away from her carotid artery.
Rosa’s attorneys have emphasized that his inability to give the dispatcher his address and, later, his statement that he didn’t have initials when asked to sign a form, show his immaturity and point to why statements he made should not be allowed into court.
Prosecutors countered that Rosa was properly educated about his rights and played a portion of bodyworn camera that showed Det. Elosegui going through the Miranda warnings line by line, having Rosa read them back to him.
On Tuesday, after hearing additional arguments from both the defense and prosecution, Judge Richard Hersch denied the defense’s motion and ruled that Rosa’s statements and admissions would be admissible at his murder trial.
