Lawyers unveil shocking new theory about Florida honor roll student, 13, 'who murdered mom as she slept'

Daily Mail​

22-04-2025

Attorneys for an honor roll student who allegedly admitted to murdering his mom when he was 13 have said he may not be the killer.
Derek Rosa, 14, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder after his mother Irina García was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife in their Florida home in 2023.
But his attorneys have now said they're exploring 'evidence of an alternative suspect', according to court records seen by NBC South Florida.
Lawyers for the teenager have said they would like to investigate Frank Ramos, who is Rosa's stepfather and García's husband.
According to records, Ramos provided detailed descriptions about the killing in his Facebook messages, including how the victim screamed for help and fought back.
'The messages are exculpatory because they raise the possibility of an alternate theory, that of course includes the culprit not being Derek Rosa,' attorneys wrote in a motion.
'The stepfather having such specific details of the incident while at the same time claiming that he did not witness the incident, raises the possibility that he was in fact present during the incident, at the very least watched it.'
Ramos is currently set to appear in Rosa's trial as a witness in June 2025.
Bodycam footage showed the moment police stormed García's Hialeah home and arrested the honor roll student.
'Hands up! Hands up, come here, get on the ground!' One cop yells as Rosa emerges in pajamas.
He is forced to the ground and placed in handcuffs while officers rush into the apartment.
'There's a knife in my room,' Rosa tells the cop, who then shouts the information to his colleagues. 'There's a baby,' the teen adds.
'How's the baby? Did you do anything to the f***ing baby?' the cop demands, but Rosa says he left the infant unharmed.
Police said once they entered García's room they found the 39-year-old mom dead in her bed next to the crib containing her 14 day old baby.
So far there has been no indication of a motive. Rosa's lawyers has recently indicated that they may seek an insanity defense.
In other bodycam footage, Rosa's devastated grandmother can be heard explaining in Spanish to a cop of her grandson never appeared to have any issues.
'I've never seen him with any mental problems or anything like that, he's a normal kid, intelligent,' she said in Spanish. 'I don't know what happened…all I know is I don't have a daughter anymore.'
The teen entered a not guilty plea in December 2023 after his arrest in October.
However, interrogation footage showed the teen describing the size and color of the knife he allegedly used to commit the crime.
He was further questioned by detectives who asked: 'Your mom was sleeping?'
Rosa went on to confirm: 'Yeah, she was sleeping.'
The video showed the teenager showing detectives his bloody hands and pointing to his neck when asked where he stabbed his mother.
He also told the detective that his mother screamed when he attacked her, before he then asked for an attorney.
On December 15, 2023, a pre-trial hearing saw prosecutors playing a recording of Rosa allegedly speaking to a detective directly after the stabbing, where he said: 'I woke up, I grabbed one of the kitchen knives and I went to her room... I killed her.'
After hearing the disturbing tape, Miami Dade Circuit Judge Richard Hersch ordered the teen to be held in an adult jail until his trial commences.
At a separate hearing, baby-cam footage showed Rosa standing over his sleeping mother in her bed, moments before he allegedly stabbed her 46 times.
The 13-year-old was seen in eerie black-and-white images looming over his mom with a time stamp at 11 pm. Rosa called 911 to report the murder around 11:30 pm.
Rosa is also accused of taking a smiling selfie to a friend directly after the killing, where he was sticking his tongue out with what appears to be blood smeared on his hands.
Police said after taking the pictures, Rosa asked a dispatcher if the move was 'bad'.
He also allegedly claimed that he found two guns owned by his stepfather after the stabbing and planned to commit suicide but didn't go through with the plan.
Rosa's family expressed shock over the charges and said he was a 'good kid' and that 'no one could imagine this would ever happen'.
The detective who interviewed Rosa after he allegedly carried out the murder, Hialeah Police officer Joseph Elosegui, said that investigators found additional evidence after looking through Rosa's internet activity.
He claimed the 13-year-old researched the best way to kill someone and whether a small knife would be able to cut through bone.
Rosa will stand trial as an adult and has had multiple requests for transfers to a juvenile prison denied.