Police are investigating after a 13-year-old boy allegedly murdered his mother in their Hialeah apartment.
Police are investigating after a 13-year-old boy murdered his mother in their Hialeah apartment in front of a newborn baby, officials said.
Hialeah Police officials said the incident happened around 11:30 p.m. Thursday at 211 West 79th Place.
Officers responded to the address after receiving a call from the teen telling them he'd just murdered his mother, police said.
When officers arrived, they found the 39-year-old woman dead in her bedroom next to a crib with a 14-day-old baby that was unharmed.
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A neighbor recorded the moments when Hialeah Police officers ordered the teen to come out of the apartment with his hands up. Cellphone video shows the teen walk out with his hands up, an officer taking him to the ground and other officers entering the home.
The teen later told detectives he stabbed his mother while she slept, according to an arrest report. He took photos of his mother's body and sent them to a friend on social media, and told the same friend over the phone that he killed her, the report said.
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"This is heartbreaking, I never would have imagined something like this, a 13-year-old child taking his mother's life," Hialeah Police spokesman Eddie Rodriguez said. "It's a very sad story."
Rodriguez said the baby is the teen's half-sister. He said the mother's husband, the teen's stepfather, is a truck driver who was out of the state when the killing happened but was on his way back home.
Neighbors identified the woman as Irina Garcia and that she had just given birth to the baby just days ago.
The 13-year-old was taken into custody at the apartment, police said. He's expected to face a second-degree murder charge, police said.
Rodriguez said the teen is an 8th grader at iMater Academy in Hialeah.
"We're hearing from family that he was a good kid, honor roll student at school, there's no history of mental health," he said.
Rodriguez said detectives are looking into why the teen killed his mother.
"We don't know, that's something that we're still trying to figure out," Rodriguez said. "He did not say why he did this, all he did was call 911 and advise what he did."
According to NBC6 sources, the teen called police because he was afraid he was also going to harm his sister and himself.
One of the teen’s classmates reacted to the news Friday.
“I'm surprised, I'm shocked and I'm angry,” the classmate said. "I talked to him many times and I said love yourself and he would always say OK."
Police haven't released the mother's identity. Prosecutors said they're looking to charge the teen as an adult.
Check back with NBC6 for updates.
