Teenager, who stabbed his mother over 40 times while she held her 14-day-old daughter and then sent pictures of the body to an online friend, pleaded guilty
Florida – In a chilling act of violence that stunned a Florida community and left a family torn apart, a 15-year-old boy, identified as D. Rosa, has pleaded guilty to the brutal killing of his 39-year-old mother, identified as I. Garcia—a murder that unfolded while she held his 14-day-old baby sister in her arms. Rosa, who was only 13 at the time of the crime, will now serve 25 years in prison after admitting to the killing in court.
Rosa was originally facing a first-degree murder charge in the October 2023 slaying of his mother. But just days before his trial was set to begin, Rosa pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a reduced sentence. His plea was accepted by Judge R. Hersch, who also ordered that Rosa serve 20 years of probation after his release. The teen will also receive credit for time served while in pretrial custody.
The attack occurred just before midnight on October 12, 2023, inside the family’s apartment. Rosa called 911 himself around 11:30 p.m., telling the dispatcher that he had stabbed his mother to death. When officers arrived, they found Garcia’s body next to a crib holding her 14-day-old daughter. The baby was unharmed. The gruesome crime scene left first responders and investigators reeling. Garcia had been stabbed over 40 times, a level of violence that police described as shocking, especially coming from a child with no history of violence or mental illness. Rosa, an eighth-grade honor roll student, had no prior run-ins with the law. Friends and family described him as quiet, respectful, and academically gifted—someone no one believed capable of such horror. What followed was a case filled with disturbing revelations.
During the 911 call, Rosa not only admitted to the killing but also confessed to something even more disturbing. “I took pictures and I told my friends about it,” he told the dispatcher. When asked who he sent the images to, Rosa said it was someone he played video games with online. Investigators later uncovered a selfie Rosa had taken after the murder, showing him making a casual hand gesture, known as the “shaka” sign, while his hand appeared to be covered in his mother’s blood.
Surveillance footage from inside the apartment added another layer of horror. At 10:23 p.m., Garcia was seen in bed, cradling her infant daughter. Just over 30 minutes later, a male figure—believed to be Rosa—is captured standing over the bed in the dark. In a taped confession, Rosa later told detectives he had killed his mother and sent an image of her body to his online friend. His defense attorneys tried to argue that Rosa was too young to fully understand the consequences of talking to police without a lawyer present. But Judge Hersch ruled that Rosa had knowingly waived his Miranda rights, and the confession was allowed as evidence.
The emotional toll on the family was laid bare during the court hearing. Rosa’s stepfather, speaking through a translator, told the court the victim was a kind and devoted woman who always put her family first. He added that her death shattered their family and changed their lives forever, leaving a pain that will never fully go away. State Attorney K. Rundle issued a public statement after the plea, calling Rosa’s actions “tragic beyond words.” “The pain Garcia suffered from the 46 stab wounds could only have been surpassed by the knowledge that the person killing her was her own young son,” Rundle said. “When he stole his mother’s life, he also stole so much of his own future.”
Rosa offered a brief apology in court: “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. Though the legal chapter has come to a close, the lasting trauma remains. A mother is gone, a child will grow up without her, and a teenage boy—once seen as a model student—will spend much of his life behind bars for a crime few could ever understand.
