Lawyers representing 13-year-old Derek Rosa, who confessed to stabbing his mother to death last month in Hialeah, have requested an emergency order to inspect the crime scene.
In a request delivered to Judge Richard Hersch, they requested access to the Hialeah apartment where 39-year-old Cuban Irina García, who had given birth to a girl 14 days before her eldest son allegedly murdered her, was found dead, reported NBC6.
Attorney Armando Luis expressed in court that his client’s life is at stake, but did not provide specific details about the need for the search, citing attorney-client privilege.
He also reiterated the request that the teenager return to juvenile detention, since he is in an adult prison and will be tried as such under an accusation of first-degree murder.
In opposition to the inspection, Hersch responded that cannot issue an order with authorization without a compelling reason.
Frank Ramos, Rosa’s stepfather and who was García’s husband and father of the 14-day-old baby, opposed the review. He argued that he will hand over the apartment at the end of the month and that family members, including Rosa’s biological father, have already entered and removed all of the victim’s and the accused’s personal belongings.
“There is nothing of Rosa in the department,” Ramos said.
Judge Hersch questioned the defense attorneys’ request, asking why they wanted to do such a review more than a month after the homicide, especially when several people had already entered the scene.
In addition, he expressed that Ramos has the right to decide who has access to his apartment and questioned whether he has the authority to approve the emergency request.
Likewise, the state’s lawyers argued that the police had already legally inspected and searched the apartment according to protocol.
In response, Judge Hersch declined to rule Wednesday and asked attorneys to present more specific reasons for the request.
Another hearing on this case will be held next week, where Hersch is expected to make a decision on whether to allow Rosa to return to the Juvenile Detention Center, as requested by her attorney.
He currently remains in MetroWest with adult offenders, and the maternal family of the minorhis father, as well as Ramos himself, have written letters to the judge to accept the change of prison.
On the night of October 12, the teenager stabbed his mother to death while the woman was sleeping. He did it in front of his little sister, a 14-day-old baby, and then called the 911 line, where he gave details of what happened inside the apartment, located at 211 West and 79 Place in Hialeah.
After the crime, Derek Rosa took photos of the his mother’s corpse and sent them to a friend, the police revealed. She later told the same friend that he had killed her.
When the authorities arrived, the minor came out with his hands up. The body of her mother, Irina García, 39, lay stabbed next to the baby’s crib, which has now been left in the custody of the maternal grandmother. Ramos is a truck driver and was returning to his house to meet with his family when he heard the news.
“It’s a very difficult thing to understand why these things happen. The boy has not said why he did it“We investigators can’t believe it, it’s very sad for our community,” said Eddie Rodríguez, Hialeah police spokesman.
