Law&Crime Sidebar - 911 Call of 13-Year-Old Who Savagely Stabbed His Mother to Death Revealed

Episode Date: October 28, 2023

A Florida teenager is locked up after telling dispatchers he stabbed his mother as his newborn sister lay in a crib nearby. The teen also admitted to sending photos of the grisly scene to an “online friend.” The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber gets insight into what the teenager might have been thinking from forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Save 10% on your entire POM Pepper Spray order by using code LAWCRIME10 at https://bit.ly/POM-SIDEBAR HOSTS:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberAngenette Levy: https://twitter.com/Angenette5LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that will

keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. A mom of two is stabbed to death in Florida, and police say her own son is to blame. The words from the 13-year-old on a call to 911 and reaction to it from forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Well, this is a pretty grisly crime. A Florida mom who had just given birth two weeks earlier to a baby girl was allegedly stabbed to death by her teen son while the baby slept nearby.

That's according to police in Hia, Florida. 39-year-old, Rina Garcia, died from multiple stab wounds on the night of October 12th. The baby, only 14 days old, was unharmed, apparently sleeping during the violent assault. And 13-year-old Derek Rosa can be heard on the phone with a 911 dispatcher around 1130 at night, saying his mother is dead. I need to know if your mom is breathing. She said, miss. Okay, and what did you do that? He's blood all over the floor.

I need to know. Do you think we can help your mom? Ms. She's dead. Yeah, Rosa tells the dispatcher that he had considered using his stepfather's gun to kill himself, but couldn't bring himself to do it. The stepfather's a truck driver was reportedly out of state when the killing happened. And if it's possible, the 911 phone call, not even worse. Ms. Yes.

I took pictures and I told my friends about it. Was that bad? You told who about it? My friends. Well, did you send us pictures? My friend. I don't know his real name because he is an online friend. I'll play with a lot.

So this whole call lasted a little more than 15 minutes. And when law enforcement arrived, the eighth grader tells the dispatcher that he's afraid the police are going to kill him. But he actually surrenders peacefully. That call will definitely not be very helpful as it could clearly be seen as an admission in his case. And that's important when we think about the next steps. And I say that because Rosa is being held in juvenile detention. He's expected to face a second-degree murder. murder charge. I also do wonder if he could face a child endangerment charge for

killing happening in the presence of a young infant there. Well, even though he's currently in juvenile detention, it's possible he could be tried as an adult given the gravity of the crime. That's important because that determines how the case could be adjudicated. Adult versus juvenile determines whether Rosa would even go before a jury, also the type and severity of his potential punishment. So it's an important legal distinction there. And Rosa has a hearing coming up on November 2nd. Hyaliyah police say that they heard from family that he was a good kid. He was an honor roll student at school.

There's no history of mental health. It's according to the Hialea police spokesperson, Eddie Rodriguez, said this after the killing. This is heartbreaking. I never would have imagined something like this, a 13-year-old child taking his mother's life. It's a very sad story. There's a further statement that we don't know. There's something that we're still trying to figure out.

He didn't say why he did this. All he did was call 911 and advise what he. did. A friend of Garcia started a go-fund me to raise money for her husband and newborn daughter. It says, quote, I was lucky enough to know Arena for a year since moving to our apartment. She was a person that I can only describe as beautiful, both inside and out. She was always so warm and kind. You know we covered some pretty crazy cases and clearly there is a need for personal safety in this world. So I want to talk to you right now about calm pepper spray. This is the next generation of pepper spray. And it is a proud partner of us here on

sidebar. I tell you this because recently my wife had a very scary situation on the street. She's fine. Thank goodness. I'm not kidding you, though. Immediately, I went to her office and I gave her a Palm pepper spray. She carries it with her now all the time. You see, Palm has a range and a capacity that can give you, and those you love, some peace of mind. Now, if you're worried about mistakenly shooting it, well, Palm's design prevents accidental misfires, which is a great thing. So whether you're carrying the unit on your keys or keychain or snapping it on your backpack or just carrying it in your pocket. Tom is a great everyday accessory.

You can learn more at palm pepper spray.com and use code law crime 10% for 10% off. I want to talk a little bit more about this. Let me bring in Dr. Daniel Bober, a forensic psychiatrist in South Florida. Dr. Bober, thanks so much for coming on. What a case. Let me just first start your thoughts on this. If this is true, if he really did stab his mother. It's truly tragic, as you said, but he sounded like a child on the 911 call.

because he is a child and his brain doesn't have the same hardware as an adult. If you break these, for the brain up into two systems, we have what's called social emotional control, which actually develops much quicker than what we call cognitive control. So if you think of social emotional control as the gas, think of cognitive control as the breaks. So in a child that age, you have the gas without the brakes. And this means that you have a child's brain that's unable to weigh the future consequences of its actions, to exercise restraint, unable to weigh the options that's very emotionally disregulated,

and it's very difficult for them to control their impulses in the same way that an adult does. But I guess the question is, and I don't want to put, you know, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but do you believe he shouldn't be charged or tried as an adult, but as a juvenile? Well, the Supreme Court looked at this issue in Roper v. Simmons. They looked at the culpability of children compared to adults and they don't think that it should be the same. So I do think that there has to be some consequences here, but I don't think you can look at him through the same lens that you would look at an adult who committed this crime. What about the part where he took pictures and sent it to a friend, apparently a friend he met online? That feels like a knowledge

that of knowing what he's doing, no? Or what did you think of that aspect? Actually, some people would say that it's the opposite, right? Because it's not like he's trying to conceal the crime. he's trying to show it to his friends. So I think there's an awareness that maybe he did something wrong, but maybe he did something wrong in the sense that he spilled something on the carpet and not that he took someone's life. I think he doesn't realize the finality of that. And that's what I'm talking about in the difference of how he sees the world versus an adult.

Do you think they're going to try him as an adult? I mean, this is a really grave crime. I mentioned it's in the presence of an infant. I wouldn't be surprised if he's hit maybe with a child endangerment charge, which we sometimes see when. a crime is committed in the presence of a young child? I mean, do you think that there's going to be an incentive to try him as an adult? And what would be the arguments to try him as an adult?

I hope they don't try him as an adult. You know, this is a case where nobody wins. Everyone loses. It's tragedy all around. But again, I just don't think that you could look at him with the same level of culpability as an adult. When you apply that same standard, I think you come up short because his brain is just not the same. What about the motive? We obviously don't know what happened here, right?

we were still trying to pick the pieces up. What could be a potential motive for a young boy to kill his mother like this? It could be something as simple as he was told no or he was denied access to something. That's what is so tragic about it. And again, I think what he did was obviously disproportionate to whatever happened before we heard this 911 call. But I'm sure whatever it's going to be, it's going to be something that on the surface seems rather silly. but in his mind, in his view of the world, it was something that pushed him over the edge. Have you ever seen a case like this? Have you ever been involved in a case like this?

I have. I have. And this is an issue that comes up frequently. And again, going back to what I said in the beginning, this is why in Roper v. Simmons, we recognize that we shouldn't execute people who were juveniles at the time when they committed their crime. The justice has spoke of what we call evolving standards of decency. And this is why we have to look at this, I think, in a different way looking at the current science. What do you think would be, again, if he did this, what do you think would be the best future for him? Do you think he, this is somebody that could receive treatment, be rehabilitated in some way? Because again, a heinous crime like this at 13 years old. What do you think? I do. I do think there is rehabilitative potential here. And I think putting him in the

adult prison system where there's very little opportunity to better himself, to reform himself is not the way to go here. I think essentially you're going to ruin another life by doing that. Sad case, not easy answers. We're going to continue to follow it. Dr. Bober, thank you so much. Appreciate it. My pleasure. All right, everybody, that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. Please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. Speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad-free right now on Wondery Plus.

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.