A 13-year-old boy accused of stabbing his mother to death in Hialeah returned to court Thursday for a status hearing.
Derek Rosa is facing a murder charge in the Oct. 12 killing of his mother, 39-year-old Irina Garcia. He's being charged as an adult and is currently being held at the Metro West Detention Center.
Thursday, a judge ordered state attorneys to immediately hand over to Rosa's attorneys unredacted 911 calls that Rosa made the day of the murder. The teen's attorney made the request for those calls which include Rosa confessing to stabbing his mother.
A tentative trial date was scheduled for February 26.
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The 13-year old's father and maternal grandmother attended Thursday's hearing. There were also a group of mothers and grandmothers who showed their support for Rosa. They wore T-shirts with the words "We are all Derek".
"For us, it's very important he goes to class, goes to therapy, he goes to the patio. It's really important for a kid, 13-years old," said supporter Gladimar Lizcano. "That's all that matters. We are here to fight for his rights."
The supporters did not want to comment on whether they believe Rosa is innocent or not. They said they just want the teen to be treated as a child.
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At Thursday's hearing, the judge also ordered for the Metro West Detention Center to provide biweekly checks of Rosa's activities.
His attorneys had been seeking to have him transferred out of the adult jail and back to the juvenile detention center while he waits trial.
After a multiple hearings and days of testimony, Judge Richard Hersch ordered him to stay in an adult jail on Dec. 15.
It came a day after a hearing for the teen, in which a detective testified that Rosa confessed to stabbing his mother over 40 times, searched for information about killing people with knives and admitted to the brutal killing to investigators.
Rosa became emotional, putting his head down and appearing to cry, as video of his confession to investigators was played in court during the testimony of Hialeah Det. Joseph Elosegui.
"I woke up, I grabbed one of the kitchen knives and then I went to her room, and then," he's heard saying, trailing off.
"It's ok, you can say it," a detective tells him.
"I killed her," Rosa replies.
During his testimony Thursday, Elosegui said Rosa cursed at his mother in Spanish then stabbed her over 40 times.
Afterwards, he called an online friend and sent the friend three photos, including two of his mother and a selfie, Elosegui said.
The selfie, previously released by prosecutors, shows Rosa posing with what appears to be blood on his hands.
Two other photos captured from a nearby baby monitor show Garcia holding her newborn daughter, and then her son, Rosa, later standing over her the night of the killing. Another photo showed a pink-handled kitchen knife with blood on it.
Elosegui said Rosa had done several online searches that included "What is the best place to stab someone?" and "Is a small knife good for killing?" and "Is it easier to kill someone with a small knife?" and "Can a knife cut through bone?"
Rosa, an 8th grader at iMater Academy in Hialeah, was arrested after calling 911 shortly after the killing at an apartment complex at 211 West 79th Place.
When officers arrived, they found the 39-year-old woman dead in her bedroom next to a crib with her 14-day-old baby who was unharmed.
Rosa's attorneys had been seeking to have him moved back to a juvenile detention center, claiming his rights are being violated inside Metro West.
Prosecutors were against moving him to juvenile detention because they say Rosa is a major threat and needs to be treated as an adult prisoner.
