{"id":108635,"date":"2026-01-07T04:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T04:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/108635\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T04:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T04:26:10","slug":"jury-can-hear-confession-of-hialeah-teen-accused-of-stabbing-his-mother-judge-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/108635\/","title":{"rendered":"Jury can hear confession of Hialeah teen accused of stabbing his mother, judge says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A teen accused of stabbing his mother to death in 2023 calmly confessed to the killing, a Hialeah police detective recalled in court on Monday.<\/p>\n

Detective Joseph Elosegui detailed his interaction with Derek Rosa, now 15 \u2014 including how the boy described the brutal ambush of his mother in a nonchalant, matter-of-fact manner.<\/p>\n

That confession, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Richard Hersch ruled on Tuesday, can be played for a jury during the trial, scheduled to start on Jan. 20. Derek, who was wearing brown jail attire while in court, had his head down and stared at the floor as the judge spoke.<\/p>\n

Also on Tuesday, prosecutors and Derek\u2019s defense team said they are trying to reach a plea agreement before trial.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 12, 2023, then-13-year-old Derek murdered his mother, Irina Garcia, 39, by stabbing her 46 times with a kitchen knife as she slept, while his 2-week-old sister was nearby in her crib, police and prosecutors say. While Derek confessed to the slaying, his case has received national attention due to a vocal community of supporters who believe he is innocent.<\/p>\n

\"Staunch<\/p>\n

Staunch supporters of Derek Rosa appear in court during his hearing. Rosa, 15, is accused of stabbing his mother Irina Garcia to death in Hialeah back in 2023. Derick was 13 at the time of the killing and appeared in Courtroom 4-8 with Judge Richard Hersch presiding during his hearing on Monday, January 5th, 2025, in Miami, Florida.<\/p>\n

About two dozen supporters filled the courtroom Monday and Tuesday, most wearing white T-shirts with Derek\u2019s name and photo on them. At times, several supporters prayed for the teen.<\/p>\n

In December, prosecutors hinted at Derek\u2019s possible motive: that the boy killed his mother to share photos of her dead with his friends due to his fascination with blood and gore.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Possible motive of Hialeah teen accused of stabbing mother? Fascination with gore<\/a><\/p>\n

Prosecutor Jonathan Borst previously said he seeks to introduce the evidence to show jurors Derek\u2019s fascination with blood and gore, although attorney Dayliset Rielo argued the evidence should be excluded because it was irrelevant. Later on the day of the murder, Derek made several Internet searches about killing, including \u201cWhere is the best place to stab someone,\u201d \u201cThe carotid artery\u201d and \u201cCan a knife cut through bone,\u201d according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

\"Derek<\/p>\n

Derek Rosa, 15, who is accused of stabbing his mother Irina Garcia to death in Hialeah back in 2023, appears in court for his hearing. Derick was 13 at the time of the killing and appeared in Courtroom 4-8 with Judge Richard Hersch presiding during his hearing on Monday, January 5th, 2025, in Miami, Florida.<\/p>\n

A chilling confession<\/p>\n

During Monday\u2019s hearing, prosecutors played 911 calls and snippets of Derek\u2019s interview with police. In the videos, the teen recounted with significant detail the events leading up to \u2014 and following \u2014 the killing. Derek told detectives he called an online friend to tell him he had stabbed his mother, also sending the friend pictures of his mother\u2019s body.<\/p>\n

In the video, Derek said he first \u201ccut her\u201d in the neck and stabbed where \u201ca lot of blood sprays out.\u201d Derek covered his ears when the confession was played in court.<\/p>\n

He had \u201cno emotion for someone who butchered his mother,\u201d Elosegui said.<\/p>\n

On the witness stand, Elosegui defended the investigation, adding that he made sure Derek understood his rights. Investigators, the detective said, didn\u2019t have to confront Derek with evidence because Derek wasn\u2019t hesitant to talk and immediately began divulging details about the murder.<\/p>\n

Borst argued that Derek knowingly waived his rights when he agreed to speak with police.<\/p>\n

\"Derek<\/p>\n

Derek Rosa, 15, center, who is accused of stabbing his mother Irina Garcia to death in Hialeah back in 2023, appears in court for his hearing. Derick was 13 at the time of the killing and appeared in Courtroom 4-8 with Judge Richard Hersch presiding during his hearing on Monday, January 5th, 2025, in Miami, Florida.<\/p>\n

But Rielo, one of Derek\u2019s attorneys, argued that the boy\u2019s statements to police should not be included in a trial due to his lack of maturity.<\/p>\n

Before police questioned Derek, he asked, \u201cWhat is an attorney?\u201d He also said he didn\u2019t know his own address or phone number and struggled to read the word \u201ccoercion\u201d while waiving his right to remain silent. The lead detective, however, testified that he explained to the then-middle schooler what \u201ccoercion\u201d and \u201cattorney\u201d meant.<\/p>\n

Rielo also said police should have allowed Derek to have a parental figure present while he was questioned.<\/p>\n

\"Derek<\/p>\n

Derek Rosa, 15, who is accused of stabbing his mother Irina Garcia to death in Hialeah back in 2023, appears in court for his hearing. Derick was 13 at the time of the killing and appeared in Courtroom 4-8 with Judge Richard Hersch presiding during his hearing on Monday, January 5th, 2025, in Miami, Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A teen accused of stabbing his mother to death in 2023 calmly confessed to the killing, a Hialeah…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[55639,225,227,226,1638],"class_list":{"0":"post-108635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-derek-rosa","9":"tag-hialeah","10":"tag-hialeah-headlines","11":"tag-hialeah-news","12":"tag-hialeah-police"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}