Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Timid Honor Student Son Stabs Mom Dead, Dad Blows Kisses in Court

Episode Date: December 9, 2023

The 13-year-old Derek Rosa is caught on the family's nanny cam, standing over his sleeping mother moments before the honor student stabs her to death. His newborn sister is sleeping in a crib steps aw...ay.  Derek Rosa is not your typical 13-year-old boy: He is on the honor roll with neighbors saying he is exceedingly nice and the model son. Irena Garcia, 39, just gave birth to a baby girl. So it was shocking when the teen called 911, telling the dispatcher that he snuck into the room where his mom and the baby were sleeping and stabbed his mother dead.  As the operator talks to Rosa, he tells her he took pictures of the murder and sent them to a "friend." He also says he then deleted the photos. When pressed for the friend's name, Rosa says it is just somebody he knows online. During his call with 911, Rosa said he had a gun he planned to use to kill himself but decided not to.   Derek Rosa was taken into custody and transported to a juvenile detention center. He was then moved to Jackson Memorial Hospital after he threatened to harm himself. Rosa was initially charged with second-degree murder, but a Miami-Dade grand jury found enough probable cause to indict the teen as an adult and up the charge to first-degree murder. Rosa's defense attorney has put motions in front of the judge to move this case back to juvenile court.  Joining Nancy Grace today: Jason Oshins - Criminal & Civil Attorney  Dr. James Garbarino – Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Cornell University and Loyola University Chicago (specialized in studying what causes violence in children); Author of, “Listening to Killers: Lessons Learned from My 20 Years as a Psychological Expert Witness in Murder Cases” Master Sergeant Ron Livingston - Sergeant at Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (30+ years in law enforcement) Dr. Tim Gallagher - Medical Examiner State of Florida; Lecturer: University of Florida Medical School Forensic Medicine; Founder/Host: International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference Caitlyn Becker - Senior Reporter for Dailymail.com; Twitter: @caitlynbecker   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous young mom who has just given birth to a baby girl stabbed dead in the bed with the baby girl sleeping nearby. And then the shock. Her honor student 13-year-old son, Derek Rosa, charged with murdering mom. In the last hours, Rosa in court, sitting emotionless as his father blows him a kiss. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thanks for being with us here at Crime Stories and on Sirius XM 111.
Starting point is 00:01:03 Derek Rosa sitting in court emotionless as his dad blows him a kiss. A 13-year-old boy accused of stabbing his mother dead in her Florida home sits there showing no emotion during his first in-person court appearance. Dad, sitting in the gallery, reportedly blows a kiss to the accused killer the honor roll student derrick rosa was wearing a brown prison outfit he appeared to occasionally nod his head while while speaking to his lawyers this is just weeks after he allegedly knifed his mother, Irene, just 39, dead as she slept next to her newborn baby daughter. During the court hearing, footage captures him, his eyes darting around the courtroom during the proceedings. As you will recall, he's the one that called 911 immediately after the stabbing, even stating he had taken photos of his dead mom and sending them
Starting point is 00:02:16 to friends. What exactly happened? Let's take a listen to touch my sister. I need to know if your mom is breathing. She's dead, ma'am. I have the gun with me. I was going to shoot myself, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to. I pulled back the slide, but I did not shoot. And more.
Starting point is 00:03:00 I need to know, do you think we can help your mom? Yes, she's dead. I have more family members. They can take care of my sister. I took pictures and I told my friends about it. Was that bad? You told who about it? My friends.
Starting point is 00:03:18 Your friends? Did you send pictures to your friends of what you did? Yeah. I didn't delete the pictures off my phone, but I sent them to him. And I told him that I was sorry, and then I said goodbye. I'm okay. I'm really sorry. I'm really sorry. Let me understand this. Caitlin Becker is joining me. Senior investigative reporter with DailyMail.com. Caitlin, wait. The 13-year-old honor student son kills mom, stabbing her multiple times in the neck, and then leaves his 14-day-old little sister alive, takes pictures of his mom dead in the bed,
Starting point is 00:04:01 and sends them to a friend. Just start at the beginning, Caitlin Becker. Nancy, this case is absolutely baffling. We have no idea what the motive is. This is about 1130 at night. The son, as you said, 13 years old, is awake. Both the baby and mom are asleep. He goes into the bedroom, allegedly stabs mom to death. Like I said, leaves the baby untouched. And then he takes the pictures, sends it to someone he barely even knows. I mean, he says the word friend in the 911 call. And when
Starting point is 00:04:32 the dispatcher asks for a name, he says he doesn't know the friend's actual name. It's just someone that he plays games with online. So not even someone this child is close with. And then he calls 911 on himself. You could hear in the call that he's clearly distraught. And from everything we know about this kid from friends and family, he's an honor student, well-mannered, well-behaved, quiet. This appeared to come out of absolutely nowhere. And his baby sister, who is 14 days old, is a half sister. So his stepfather, who is a truck driver, was out of state working this night. So he wasn't there. And we know the gun that the child mentioned in that call belonged to the stepfather.
Starting point is 00:05:18 I want to hear that second sound again, Sydney, if you could play that one more time. I need to know, do you think we can help your mom? She's dead. I have more family members. They can take care of my sister. I took pictures and I told my friends about it. Was that bad? You told who about it?
Starting point is 00:05:41 My friends. Your friends? Did you send pictures to your friends so what you did yeah i didn't delete the pictures off my phone but i sent them to him and i told him that i was sorry and then i said goodbye i'm okay i'm really sorry i'm really sorry joining me right now is high-profile lawyer jason oceans new york uh based but really practices all over criminal and civil lawyer Jason Oceans. Have you ever had one piece of evidence and you have like this 911 call and you have to play it over and over because each line proves so much because you have this young perp who has just stabbed his mom in the neck the little baby sister just a few days old lying there with her and he says not only that he did it but
Starting point is 00:06:36 he's speaking what can i learn from this 911 call just the part that i played so far he is coherent he has taken pictures of his mother this is his bio mom he's taking pictures of her lying dead with her neck stabbed and he has sent them to the friend and he says this one thing this is very important it's critical was that bad people only say was that bad when they know it's bad. Was that wrong? Yeah, it was wrong. Nancy, he's barely, barely 13, just 12 a little bit ago. So he's not. Is that what I asked you?
Starting point is 00:07:14 No, you did not ask me that, Nancy. You also called him a perp. Because he murdered his mother? Right. That's clearly he murdered his mother. There's no question there. And would you disagree that he is not the perpetrator? No, he is the perpetrator. So he is, in fact, the perp. Yes, Nancy, as we break it down, he is the perp.
Starting point is 00:07:31 Okay, back to the original question. In court, I would say something like, as I looked at you glaringly, Your Honor, may I refresh the witness's recollection? May I redirect the witness as his answers are unresponsive? And I will ask you again, have you ever had a piece of evidence that the more you looked at it, the more you learned? Just one sentence, one piece of evidence, that clip from that 911 call, that one part of it. Well, as a prosecutor, Nancy, you're looking at critically and you see everything inside your
Starting point is 00:08:11 case right there to prove it. I understand where you're coming from. I do not disagree with you. You're going to play that over and over in your head. You're going to play it over and over for the jury. You're going to play it over and over again. It's quite dispositive. There's not much to it. It's a slam dunk. For me as a defense attorney, it goes beyond to mental health. You know, the conference. Is that wrong? That's not a perp. Is that wrong? That's a that's a little boy. That's a troubled one. Despite what the outside looked at something, something snapped, perhaps the birth of a new child. Something happened that made him snap. Well, frankly, unless it's a legal defense.
Starting point is 00:08:49 I mean, I see things in everything. As you know, Jason, we're longtime colleagues and friends. Everything to me now, once you go through law school and once you try cases for a living, you begin to see the world in a different way. Is it probative? Does it prove something? Is it admissible? If it's not admissible, I don't want to hear about it.
Starting point is 00:09:10 I only want to know what I can put in front of a jury and how I can interpret that. And what, is it true? Is it real? Did this happen? Do I have the right person? Why? I got to leave that up to a shrink like Dr. James Carbarino joining us, who specializes in what causes violence in children. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Cornell and Loyola, University of Chicago.
Starting point is 00:09:40 Wow. Author of Listening to Killers, Lessons Learned 20 years as a psychological expert witness in murder cases. OK, I'm reading that. Dr. James Garbarino. I'm not saying that Jason Oceans is wrong. He's right. He's right. Does that mean that goes into my analysis of how I'm going to prove the case? I care about one thing. Am I getting a true verdict? Am I telling the jury the truth?
Starting point is 00:10:13 Am I telling the jury the whole truth? And does what I give the jury advance the truth? That's all I care about. Who did this? Where? When? Is it in my jurisdiction? And is there a legitimate defense such as self-defense, insanity, accident? But Dr. James Garbarino, I want you to hear our cut three, our friends at CrimeOnline.com. is not your typical 13-year-old boy. He's on the honor roll in eighth grade. Neighbors say he is exceedingly nice and friendly. He is the model son to his mother and respectful to his stepfather.
Starting point is 00:10:52 He has been a big help to his 39-year-old mother, Irina Garcia. She just gave birth to a baby girl a couple of weeks ago. Derek Rosa is a good boy. He is a good boy, He is a good boy. Dr. Garbarino, help me. You know, a lot of the focus of the criminal justice system is always, as you say, primarily what did they do? Who did it?
Starting point is 00:11:18 You know, the kind of work that I've done for the last 30 years as a psychological expert witness really tries to get at who they are. I've worked on a number of kids who killed their parents over the years. You know, a lot of the kids who kill their parents, it's called reactive parasites in response to abuse. But I have worked on cases like this that are mysterious at the outset because, you know, where does this come from? What does it mean? How do we make sense of it? You know, there are a number of possibilities. It's too early to know. You know, there was a case in Oregon years ago where a boy killed his parents and it turned out
Starting point is 00:11:57 he was slipping into schizophrenia. He was hearing voices. And, you know, the thing about hearing voices in America is a fascinating study that finds that 70 percent of the voices that schizophrenics hear in America tell them to commit acts of violence against themselves or others. Seventy percent. In India, it's 20 percent. In Ghana and Africa, it's 10 percent. So, you know, we need to know what was his inner life like. That's certainly one possibility. I mean, there are other possibilities, too, that eventually may make sense of this. But it certainly doesn't sound like this is, you know, there's another case recently where a boy killed his mother because she wouldn't buy him some virtual reality headphones. And he was only, you know, he was even younger than this boy.
Starting point is 00:12:44 Nine. I believe he was nine. So we have to try to understand who this is. This doesn't sound like it's the culmination of an increasingly aggressive, antisocial kid who's entitled and maybe narcissistic, maybe even on the road to becoming a psychopath. It doesn't sound like that. It sounds like some very bizarre thing going on in his head that was kept from the adults around him. crime stories with nancy grace while the 13 year old was reportedly calm in the miami-dade courtroom
Starting point is 00:13:37 family members were much more emotional the dad mr r, called for his son to get a second chance when the family pled not guilty on behalf of the 13-year-old. The dad states, quote, I guess what we're asking for is another opportunity, a second chance to help him grow and become mature as a grown man, to put this behind him. Well, it didn't work. Also, we are learning heart-stopping baby cam images shows the 13-year-old Florida honor student standing over his mother's bed just moments before he stabs her dead. Joining me, a longtime friend and colleague, Master Sergeant Ron Livingston
Starting point is 00:14:28 with the Florida Highway Patrol, 30 plus years in law enforcement. Ron, I want you to take a listen to our cut 12 more of the 911 call. And the reason I keep playing that is because it's very hard for me to look at this kid. And he is a kid, as Jason Oceans accurately pointed out. And his whole past behavior is completely, completely opposite of that one act of murder. But listen to this 911 call, Ron Livingston. I need to know if your mom is breathing. She's dead, ma'am. there's blood all over the floor okay why did you kill your mom i need to know do you think we can help
Starting point is 00:15:12 your mom yes she said to bring the police over here where i live what is your address miss yes i took pictures and i told my friends about it. Was that bad? You told who about it? My friends. Your friends? Did you send pictures to your friends of what you did? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:15:35 Do not open until I tell you to open the door and to make sure that you have nothing but your cell phone in your hands. Are they going to kill me? No, they're not going to kill you. We're here to help you. Okay. We're going to help your family. Okay, to Master Sergeant Ron Livingston. Ron, if this were an adult, I would be arguing right now how clearly he knows exactly what's going on. He has not had a psychotic break. He is not insane. He knows cops are coming and he says,
Starting point is 00:16:06 are they going to kill me? She says, do you have anything in your hands? He goes, I've got a cell phone. Do you have anything else? No. Are they going to kill me? He knows exactly what's going to happen if cops come to the scene and he's got a gun in his hands. They're going to kill him. So there's no way he's going to be able to argue any kind of insanity. Ron Livingston, have you ever seen anything like this or even closely akin to this? You know, we've seen this over and over and, you know, with social media, with, you know, with kids, they're so focused on, you know, social media and, social media and they watch all the bad things that happen out here. The media has portrayed law enforcement to be bad, which we're not. We're there to help you.
Starting point is 00:16:58 We're there to help everybody. And so I think that's been the biggest, you know, as far as the portrayal of media and stuff as far as law enforcement. So I would assume that's where he's getting this. The law enforcement is going to kill me. And we're not. We're there to help preserve the scene, to start the investigation. Obviously, we have to make sure the threat is under control. And law enforcement, there is no threat to law enforcement once they arrive. To Dr. Tim Gallagher, joining me, renowned medical examiner out of the state of Florida,
Starting point is 00:17:34 lecturer at University of Florida Medical School in the Forensic Medicine Division, founder of the International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference. Dr. Gallagher, this happened in your jurisdiction. This is in Hialeah. Could you explain to me, is there any way that this new mother, his mother, she's got a little baby girl, 14 days old, and she's sleeping in the room with the baby. Is there any way that the mother didn't feel what happened to her? She was asleep when she was attacked. I don't see a way, but is there a way?
Starting point is 00:18:13 Most likely not, you know, unless she was asleep under the influence of some substance. But when people get stabbed and they are sober, they feel every second of it. You know, you don't die from the stabbing. You actually die from bleeding to death. So that takes quite a while. And in that time, you are very, very aware of what's happening to you, the pain, your surroundings, who is doing it to you. And that can go on for several minutes before you finally esanguinate or bleed to death. So yes, if she was not on the influence of anything that was putting her asleep, she felt every second of it, knew what was happening
Starting point is 00:18:54 and felt her life slipping away from her. Nancy, can I just jump in? Is that Caitlin? Yeah, I just wanted to jump in and add a little detail to that. That there were some local reports that while we know that she was stabbed in the bed her body was discovered on the floor so I don't know if she had rolled off the bed or had tried to climb out of the bed or if they're going to be defensive wounds but the body was found on the floor so that indicates to me that she moved in some way
Starting point is 00:19:23 shape or form before ultimately extenuating. And that adds to what that supports what you're saying, Dr. Tim Gallagher, that she knew very well what was happening and was trying to either get away or protect her baby. I don't know what she was doing, but she did get out of bed. What do you make of that, Dr. Gallagher? Well, if you think about the emotional state that she was in you know she just had this baby so she's in the mother bear mode you know she really wants to protect the baby yet she's being attacked by her son who she's also there to protect because he's really not of age to do that for himself you know so she was probably torn between uh those two
Starting point is 00:20:00 circumstances in a very unusual and very critical time of her life there. And just I could see the confusion. I could see, you know, why she was thinking, why is this happening to me? You know, what is going on? And just a very, very confusing point. And I'd like to know if she did have any defensive wounds on her. But just a crazy, crazy situation. Just very, very unusual.
Starting point is 00:20:28 New photos show the moment that the 13-year-old hovered over his mom's bed before he stabbed her in the neck, dead, with a kitchen knife. He has entered a not guilty plea, but so far has not indicated any type of a mental illness defense. We know that she was lying on the floor next to the baby's crib. I wonder if she was trying to make her way to the baby. I would hope so. Yeah, I would certainly hope so. Oh, gosh. Guys, we are talking about a 13-year-old boy, Derek Rosa, who is now charged with first-degree murder and the stabbing death of his own mother lying right next to her, his 14-day-old little sister.
Starting point is 00:21:20 Caitlin Becker joining us, DailyMail.com. Caitlin, how many times was the mother stabbed? I don't know the exact number, Nancy, but I do know that it was multiple times. It was a very bloody scene, and it was specifically in that sort of neck and upper region. To Jason Oceans joining us, high-profile lawyer out of New York and New Jersey. You know he is going to be charged as an adult. There's really no choice. What do you make of it? No disagreement, Nancy. I mean, you know, when you have the direct evidence, as you do as a prosecutor here, you're pretty limited in your defense. I think the approach, Nancy, is, you know, some sort of a plea. And hopefully you're getting him, you know, mental health assistance because as the doctor was indicating, something snapped.
Starting point is 00:22:06 You do know, Jason Oceans, which we have discussed many, many times, snapped is not a defense. There's no such thing as I snapped or everybody in the Fulton County jail would say I snapped and they'd all be walking out right now. Yeah, they'd be snapping and saying it at the same time. But for layman's terms, we understand what that is. A jury would understand that. it's not a defense. It's just discovering the underneath motive, which background doesn't consistent, doesn't in any way, you know, fit the violence of the act.
Starting point is 00:22:40 It just doesn't answer. You and I both know that. And so in this case, as you're dealing with it, almost a barely 13 year old just a couple of weeks ago was 12. You're you're constrained in thinking that this young man should spend the rest of his life in prison. It's not death penalty eligible. Supreme Court is not thinking anything right now. The duty of the prosecutor is to seek justice for the state. And the state represents the victim, the crime victim. The crime victim in this case is Irina Garcia, just 39 years old when she was
Starting point is 00:23:13 brutally murdered, stabbed multiple times as she lied next to her 14 day old baby girl. That's the interest that I have. I also care about what if anything went wrong with this young boy. He is going to be charged as an adult as he should be and yes I have tried a 13 year old for murder. In that case, the 13-year-old, six foot three or four, broke into a pawn shop, well, crashed into a pawn shop, murdered one, left another in a wheelchair and a third shot, I believe with a colostomy bag, over a handful of dope ropes, which is gold chains. Is this Dr. Garbarino? Please jump in, Dr. Garbarino. Thank you. You know, I think having worked on a number of these juvenile cases over the
Starting point is 00:24:12 year, I mean, quite a number, I always think that we need to figure out which group they're in to start with. There is a group, even at 13, as you point out, who are so damaged that they, you know, it's going to take at least 20 years for them to recover. They need to get to age 25 when we can presume a mature brain. And then they need at least 10 years to use that mature brain to transform themselves and rehabilitate and educate and all the rest of that. And the evidence is actually pretty good that they can get better. Most of them do. That's really what's come out of the Miller versus Alabama
Starting point is 00:24:49 decision about not sending juveniles to life without parole. That's one group. Yeah, you can no longer send a juvenile to life without parole, just like you cannot get a sentence of death penalty on a juvenile. Right. The second group are kids who have basically been intact in childhood, but they have a kind of adolescent crisis. It's often the onset of schizophrenia. It's a drug-related thing. It's, you know, influence of negative peers, a variety of things. The good news about them is most of them actually could be dealt with as a juvenile, setting aside the severity of the crime, which may preclude that
Starting point is 00:25:31 for political and moral and legal issues. But they typically, you know, a guy once said to me in prison, how can I get, how can I be rehabilitated if I was never habilitated in the first place? And that's an important point. It sounds like this boy was habilitated. And so this is a crisis that we need to understand what brought on the crisis and he could be restored. There is a third group. It's a much smaller group who are, you know, as the Supreme Court said, irreparably corrupt. These are the kids who are simply on their way to becoming full-blown psychopaths. And, you know, I've worked on those cases too, where it's not a matter of them getting better. It's not so much a matter
Starting point is 00:26:11 of a crisis. It's a matter of something so profoundly wrong with them that it would take a miracle to, you know, to transform that. So that's why I say we need to understand who this is. I understand as a prosecutor, and I sit across from a lot of prosecutors, you know, one prosecutor in Florida said to me, I live with the stench of death. And I understand that mentality. But, you know, the interest of the state here should also be taking care of this boy. Well, I've got a question for you, Dr. Garbarino. Could the birth of the little baby sister have been some sort of a triggering event for him? Well, certainly could have been. You know, it seems to have happened in such close time proximity. You know, as I understand it, he was the only child before. Who knows what this meant to him? You know, it's the result of a stepfather impregnating his mother.
Starting point is 00:27:03 Who knows what that meant to him? You know, because from a child's point of view, regardless of how good the relationship is with the stepfather, he is an intruder in a sense. So, you know, we have to understand what this meant to him because, you know, I think there's no such thing as senseless act of violence. It always makes sense, you know, if we get inside the head of the perpetrator enough, it makes sense. We may not accept it. We may not appreciate it, but we have to get there. And I think, you know, I've had some good experiences, even in Florida, where prosecutors have understood this. And so they they're willing to take a plea that involves taking care of this troubled boy.
Starting point is 00:27:43 Well, I want you to hear something else, Dr. Garbarino, and everyone on the panel. Listen to the boy's behavior afterwards. Take a listen to Hour Cut 7 from our friends at CrimeOnline.com. Neighbors in Hialeah, Florida, shot footage as police showed up to arrest a killer. The scene, filmed by a neighbor and posted online, is not a crazed maniac. This murderer is a 13-year-old honors student. The boy is standing timidly on the balcony of his apartment as he is on the phone with 911. The boy called to confess and now the 911 operator is giving him instructions.
Starting point is 00:28:20 The boy follows the instructions, putting his hands up in the air and obeying the police directly in front of him. When the police finally get close enough, they take Derek Rosa to the ground hard. He's put in handcuffs and taken away. To Caitlin Becker joining us, senior investigative reporter of DailyMail.com. He clearly is following instructions. He understands what's happening. He is not out of his mind. He's not having a psychotic break.
Starting point is 00:28:46 All of that is actually going to work against him at trial because he clearly knows what's going on and he knows what he did was wrong, Caitlin. You hear that sadness and that remorse in the call. You can hear him getting choked up and being overwhelmed by his alleged actions. I do think that will work against him at trial. But Nancy, on the flip side, at one point, the dispatcher asked him his address. He doesn't know his address. I feel like a defense attorney is going to say this 13-year-old boy who is barely even 13,
Starting point is 00:29:18 who didn't even know where he lived, didn't understand the magnitude of his actions, maybe until after it was done. I don't know. I think that a jury might look at the 911 call and hear this broken little boy calling and talking to the dispatcher and responding to her, no miss, yes miss, and being polite and sort of trying to rectify that version of the child who's on the phone with the brutality of the murder, I think it's going to be tough. To Jason Oceans, a veteran trial lawyer, and I'm going to quote verbatim the law,
Starting point is 00:29:54 one may immediately regret the deed, but that regret does not negate intent at the time of the act. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. He's caught on the baby cam killing her. He admits to the 911 operator. He even sends pictures of his mom's dead body to friends. They better think of a defense and think of it fast. He has to creep into the mother's room while she lays sleeping. He waits until the moment she is asleep.
Starting point is 00:30:42 In the dark of the night, he goes in with a knife. He goes into the mother's bedroom with a knife. There are multiple stabs. Premeditation can be formed in the twinkling of a moment. So between each stab is another period in which premeditation can be formed. That's what premeditation means. Now, it may not mean that to a lay person on the street, but the jury, if there is one, will be instructed that that is what premeditation means. It's not a long, drawn-out scheme such as someone poisoning the victim over a period of months or even years.
Starting point is 00:31:17 It can be formed in an instant. So he has premeditation. He knows what he is doing is wrong what about that and that's i i'm not going to disagree with you in any of your approach and your prosecutorial position you've explained it well you've articulated it you're going to go ahead the only thing i would say relative to being counsel uh for the defense don't over prosecute because he's notwithstanding all of your case. He's still sympathetic at barely 30. Yes, he is. He is to Master Sergeant Ron Livingston joining us out of this jurisdiction in Florida. Are juveniles this age housed in an adult jail facility?
Starting point is 00:32:01 No, ma'am. They they will be housed in a juvenile detention facility. In the state of Florida, we're not allowed, juveniles are not allowed to be in a jail with adults longer than six hours. So once they're processed, they're taken out and turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice. In the last hours, this young man, 13-year-old Derek Rosa, has pled not guilty in a court of law. And you may be very surprised at what happens in court. Take a listen to our cut A. It's very unfortunate that this tragedy occurred, but this child is very humble, very peaceful. Now, you are hearing his father, his biological father, Mr. Rosa, in court.
Starting point is 00:32:52 He describes his son as humble and peaceful and more. Take a listen to our cut. B is in brother. It's hard for us to explain how this occurred. You know, it's difficult, but I guess what we're asking for is another opportunity. It's a second chance to help him grow and become mature as a grown man, to put this behind him and say, we have your back. We're here to support you. Caitlin Becker joining us from DailyMail.com. What happened in court? It was really emotional.
Starting point is 00:33:30 Not only was it the young boy's father, it was also his grandmother. They sent him 20 letters of support trying to get him a little bit of leniency. And in court, when the charges were upgraded to first degree murder and he was charged as an adult, he was taken out of the juvenile facility and remanded into an adult facility. I don't know how long he stayed there or if he's still there, but his attorney in court, his attorney, Kristen Reynoso, had plans to request what's called an Arthur hearing to try to secure him bond, even though it's not a bondable offense. And she also requested in court that her client be returned to juvenile custody. But that is something the judge said that they would have to determine at a later date,
Starting point is 00:34:11 and they were going to review all of that. So I do know he was taken into an adult facility. I don't know how long he would have remained, but he's going to stay in custody until his next hearing, which at this point isn't until February. Back to Master Sergeant Ron Livingston. It's confusing when you hear the verbiage that we just heard from Caitlin Becker and everything she said is correct. The judge has to determine the exact age of the defendant and that has to be weighed against the charges. But this juvenile will be housed
Starting point is 00:34:46 separately from adults. He will not be in general population. He will not have an adult roommate. None of that's happening. He is being taken to an adult facility until it's sorted out where he should be because he's charged with murder one. But in the state of Florida and across the country, juveniles are not put in cells or amongst grown men. That is not happening. Please confirm that. Yes, ma'am.
Starting point is 00:35:22 They cannot be in eyesight, nor can they speak or talk to any adults. You know, typically in this it might be a little different. I mean, the judge could actually overrule it, but typically the law in Florida is that juvenile does not stay in an adult jail for longer than a process, and then they're removed. Now, Miami-Dade, they might have a, you know, a section that's completely segregated from the adults to where they put him and house him to where he is not in view, contact, can't speak to any adults. That's very strictly prohibited. Yes. Guys, I want you to also hear more of this young man's father, Mr. Rosa, in court. Listen. Derek's mother recently had a child,
Starting point is 00:36:09 and she was overwhelmed with a lot of the work. It's not taking away anything from what occurred. And I wish if he could bring, you know, the incident back to yesterday or the day before that occurred. To Dr. Tim Gallagher, medical examiner for the state of Florida and the founder of the International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference. Dr. Gallagher, I want to go through.
Starting point is 00:36:31 We keep talking about the boy. What happened to the boy? The boy's an honor student. He had always been timid. He was a great son, very respectful, on and on and on. I want to talk about the mother, the new mother. Tell me what she went through as her life ebbed away from her and she tried valiantly to get over to the crib where her 14-day-old daughter was sleeping. Well, Nancy, I mean, she's in a very, very difficult position,
Starting point is 00:37:05 as we discussed before. She is in fight or flight mode now. She doesn't know whether to run and save her life or to run back to her crib and protect her newborn baby. So she is going to be in the presence of the son with the knife, you know, for as long as it takes. She's probably already received a fatal wound. She is bleeding. She's actively bleeding to death at this point. And she has a decision to make, you know, do I sacrifice my life for the safety of my newborn? Do I run and try to save myself, you know, by going out the door and exiting the situation all this time she is getting weaker she is getting weaker and the ability for her to reason is becoming less as the less amount of blood can reach her brain and affect her reasoning Center so she is in a very difficult position in it
Starting point is 00:38:01 and it looked like ultimately she chose to protect her baby because that's approximately where she was found when she was deceased. So very, very difficult situation. Dr. Gallagher, and I've done this myself in the case of my fiance being murdered. I like to tell myself, well, he didn't feel it. He didn't suffer because he was shot so many times in the face and the neck and the head. But you know what, Dr. Gallagher, that's probably not true because people that have survived gunshot wounds, some of them have said, I didn't even realize I was hit. Others say how much it hurt. Stab wounds have got to be just incredibly painful. I think she really suffered, and she got out of the bed and tried to get to the baby's crib. She knew she was bleeding. She knew she had been stabbed. She probably knew who had stabbed her as she was dying.
Starting point is 00:39:01 I have no doubt in my mind she suffered. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. People who get shot in the bed don't even wake up. You know, they are found exactly where they were sleeping. But people who get stabbed wake up. They feel the pain and they wake up and they try to defend themselves. And this apparently is the case here. And that's the result of knowing what's going on, of feeling the pain. Yes, they were suffering. I'm sorry, Nancy, this is Jim Garbarino again. You know, I think we haven't talked about, you know, obviously a lot of things here. One being, you know, was committing this crime may have put him in a what's called a dissociative state that just in disconnected,
Starting point is 00:39:42 and that may be reflected in his call. But the other thing is he talks about having a gun and not using it on himself, which suggests that he chose the knife over the gun because he had access to both. And that, I think, may end up being significant in understanding the crime because, as you well know, stabbing is a very different internal process often than shooting. And it really, again, suggests to me that there's something we don't know yet that's really deep and big and dark inside him that led to this particular form of attack. And again, I think we've just got to understand this because it's not like a lot of other murders that juveniles committed.
Starting point is 00:40:27 And I just hope the system will be able to find a way to understand that, make sense of it. And I think, as I said, this gun versus knife issue may be a clue to what was going on. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend.

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