MIAMI — Four days before his first-degree murder trial was set to begin, 15-year-old Derek Rosa pleaded guilty Friday to killing his mother in 2023.

Rosa is pleading guilty to second-degree murder instead, getting a 25-year sentence under a deal with prosecutors, Judge Richard Hersch said in court.

Hialeah police said Rosa, then 13, stabbed his 39-year-old mother, Irina Garcia, 46 times as she slept at their apartment next to her newborn daughter at 211 W. 79th Place on Oct. 12, 2023.

“Nothing justifies what you did,” Rosa’s stepfather, Frank Ramos, told his stepson through a Spanish translator as he read a statement in court.

Jury selection in the case was scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

A number of hearings were held in recent months ahead of the trial, including unsuccessful attempts by his defense team to have key pieces of evidence ― including the teenager’s confession ― thrown out.

In court filings, prosecutors said Rosa was obsessed with blood and gore in the period leading up to the killing.

Prosecutors said in a court filing that the day before the killing, he told a friend he wanted to be the murderous, machete-wielding character Jason from the “Friday the 13th” horror movie.

They said on the day of the killing, he showed a “gruesome” suicide video of a U.S. Army veteran to his girlfriend on the school bus; she broke up with him later that day.

After the killing, prosecutors said Rosa took bloody selfies and texted photos of his mother’s body to a friend out of state.

Authorities said he confessed to the killing in both a 911 call and a recorded interview with Hialeah police.

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