MIAMI – A hearing was held Thursday morning for a Hialeah teen who is accused of stabbing his mother to death in 2023.
The Miami-Dade County judge called Thursday’s hearing extremely productive, but noted what he called Derek Rosa’s attorneys’ obsessive need for secrecy.
Rosa is accused of stabbing his mother 46 times while she slept next to his baby sister in October 2023, when he was just 13 years old.
Rosa confessed to killing his mother, Irina Garcia, 39. He’s since been charged as an adult with first-degree murder.
In police interrogation video, a calm Rosa is seen nodding after a Hialeah Police Department detective asks him, “You killed her?”
He then asks the teen what type of knife he used.
“It was a big-sized kitchen knife,” Rosa said, describing the handle as “purple.”
“Your mom was sleeping?” the detective asks.
“Yeah, she was sleeping,” Rosa replies.
The video also shows the teenager showing detectives his bloody hands and pointing to his neck when asked where he stabbed his mother.
“And then she woke up?” the detective asks.
“Yes,” Rosa replies.
“Did you say anything else?” police ask.
“No, she just screamed,” Rosa said.
But Rosa never told detectives why he killed his mother.
In court Thursday, the judge set up a timeline for Rosa’s trial as his grandmother sat in the front row.
If all goes as planned, Rosa’s trial should start at the end of January.
The timeline came after the judge established a set date that Rosa’s attorney would be OK with the court reviewing evidence.
“I don’t understand the obsessive need for secrecy, but I don’t need to explore it,” the judge said.
Ultimately, Nov. 7 was decided upon as the date to review discovery.
Rosa’s next court date is scheduled for Aug. 25.
His attorney declined to provide a comment to Local 10 News at the courthouse Thursday.