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Telemundo 51 published this Friday exclusive and never-before-seen photographs of the interior of the apartment in Hialeah where Derek Rosa, then 13 years old, took the life of his mother, Irina García, on October 12, 2023.
The images, taken by forensic investigators, had never been seen publicly and are being released following the conclusion of the young man's court proceedings.
The graphic material was obtained exclusively by journalist Eduardo "Yusnaby" Rodríguez and details the elements found by the authorities upon arriving at the scene.
The photographs reveal a striking contrast within the apartment: Derek's room displayed a typical teenage environment, with an eighth-grade ID card, diplomas hung on the wall, a laptop, books and notebooks, as well as decorations of Mario Bros, Luigi, and Rick and Morty, along with a gun made from Lego pieces.
However, the floor of that same room showed stains of blood and bodily fluids.
Among the documented evidence is a bloodied knife with a broken tip. In another bed in the house, investigators photographed live bullets alongside a target paper with multiple holes.
The experts recorded nearly 20 bloodstained prints of approximately 25 centimeters that traced a direct path to the bathroom.
The images show the bed where Irina García was sleeping at the time of the attack. The amount of spilled blood reached the floor and extended to the base of the crib where Rosa's newborn sister was resting, who was not injured.
Near the scene, authorities documented a backpack containing family documents. It was after these events that the minor called 911 to confess to the crime.
This photographic evidence was part of the file that the state had prepared to present to a jury, but that moment never came.
Derek Rosa pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on January 16, 2026, four days before the scheduled start of jury selection, as part of a deal with the Miami-Dade County prosecutor’s office.
During the hearing before Judge Richard Hersch, Rosa affirmed the agreement and said "I'm sorry" at the end of the session.
The young man, who was 15 years old at the time of the hearing, was originally facing first-degree homicide charges with a possible life sentence. The agreement allowed him to avoid that outcome.
Rosa was sentenced to 25 years in state prison with credit for time served since October 2023, followed by 20 years of probation.
In February 2026, he was transferred from Metro West jail in Miami-Dade to Suwannee Correctional Institution in Live Oak, northern Florida.
After the sentence was announced, the defense attorney Dayliset Rielo shared a brief handwritten message from the young man: "Thank you to everyone who helped with my case."
The defense had argued that Rosa suffered from ADHD and autism spectrum disorder, and that she did not understand the consequences of her actions, but a judge allowed the use of her initial confession as evidence.
During the pretrial process, an internal controversy also arose: police investigators shared images of the scene in a WhatsApp chat, which triggered an internal investigation.
The case shocked the Hispanic community of South Florida since October 2023. According to the prosecution, within ten minutes of the attack, Rosa sent pictures of her mother's corpse and a photo of herself with her bloodied hand to a friend with whom she played video games online.
The statements from Derek Rosa's father and other family members during the trial added layers of sorrow to a case that the prosecution described as one of the most heartbreaking in its recent history.
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