TIFFANY GALVAN - 17 yo (2010) - Brownsville TX

Poster's Note: Initially I thought this story would be about street violence, so I refrained from posting it. Now that police have released more details and made an arrest I feel it belongs here. The penultimate tragic end to a teen pregnancy?

The parents of the 16-year-old boy accused of killing Tiffany Galvan say their son is innocent.

“We feel very sorry for what happened to the little girl,” the boy’s mother, Lucy de la Rosa, said
Monday. “But without knowing whether my son is innocent or not, the
community is already judging him.”

Investigators with the Cameron
County Sheriff’s Department say they believe de la Rosa’s son was
Galvan’s ex-boyfriend and that he fatally stabbed the girl at least 23
times. Galvan was found dead Wednesday near Benavides Park outside
Brownsville, two days after she had celebrated her 17th birthday.

The boy has been charged with
murder and will remain confined at the Darrell B. Hester Juvenile Center
in San Benito until his next court date, in which the Cameron County
District Attorney’s Office will seek to charge him as an adult. His name
is not being released because he is a minor.

On Monday, the boy’s parents
said their son was a good student and a talented football player. They
said they had not ever met Galvan in person nor that she had dated their son.

They also said they did not know the girl might have been pregnant.
A day before she died, the girl had publicly written on her Facebook page that she was having trouble
with an ex-boyfriend. In previous postings, she had said she was
pregnant and believed the boy would soon have to take responsibilities
as the father. An autopsy has not been released.

“He would only refer to her as a friend, and he would say she was inviting him out to places, to the
movies or to eat wings,” de la Rosa said of her son’s relationship with
Galvan. “I would always let him go.”

The boy’s attorney, Rick Canales, said the de la Rosas’ son should not remain detained at the
juvenile justice center because of the lack of forensic evidence.

“There are no eyewitnesses.
The family is also disturbed because there is no murder weapon that has
been found,” Canales said. “I think a lot of people are jumping the gun.”

Sitting in the Canales’ law office Monday, the boy’s parents said that the Tuesday Galvan went
missing, their son had gone to school and later football practice. They
said the boy had later gone out with a male friend and returned at about 9:30 p.m.

His mother said she had to take him to the hospital that night because he had a cut on his pinky finger.

“I feel great pain for the mother of the young girl,” said the boy’s father, Javier de la Rosa, who
makes a living as a migrant worker. “But I want to say, I have a son too.”

Despite the parents saying he's innocent the cut that required hospital treatment is a big sign of guilt. If you hold a knife in a fisted grip and repeatedly stab someone the knife becomes slippery and the hand slides down the blade cutting the pinky finger. I find it frustrating that articles are only about his guilt or innocence and the crime etc when the real story is about 16 year olds getting pregnant in the thousands. I wish someone in the media would investigate this trend and write about it. It needs to stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aren't these kids being taught any morals?? They're far from ashamed to be pregnant at 16 when they write about it on Facebook. I also want to see more written about the option of adoption which is in the best interests of the baby who should be raised in a stable, loving 2 parent family, not by some selfish brat of a teenager and a succession of her useless boyfriends and paid for by taxpayers.

kiwimom wrote:Despite the parents saying he's innocent the cut that required hospital treatment is a big sign of guilt. If you hold a knife in a fisted grip and repeatedly stab someone the knife becomes slippery and the hand slides down the blade cutting the pinky finger. I find it frustrating that articles are only about his guilt or innocence and the crime etc when the real story is about 16 year olds getting pregnant in the thousands. I wish someone in the media would investigate this trend and write about it. It needs to stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aren't these kids being taught any morals?? They're far from ashamed to be pregnant at 16 when they write about it on Facebook. I also want to see more written about the option of adoption which is in the best interests of the baby who should be raised in a stable, loving 2 parent family, not by some selfish brat of a teenager and a succession of her useless boyfriends and paid for by taxpayers.

DITTO

As an adult adoptee I applaud your comment Kiwi!

A teen accused of killing his ex-girlfriend will remain incarcerated at a juvenile detention center while attorneys gather more evidence to determine whether he is mature enough to stand trial as an adult.
The 16-year-old, whose name is not being released because he is minor, was charged with murder last month in the death of Tiffany Galvan, said to be an ex-girlfriend.
Galvan was found dead on Aug. 25 in a remote area near Benavides Park in Brownsville, two days after her 17th birthday.
At the detention center Friday afternoon, Cameron County Court at Law Judge Menton Murray Jr. postponed his adult certification hearing to Oct. 8. Attorneys on both sides of the case said they needed more time to gather information from psychiatrists, psychologists and school and community officials. The judge also ordered that the teen undergo to a social diagnostic study.
Rick Canales, the defendant’s attorney, asked the judge to allow his client to return home until the next court date. He said his parents were “suitable to provide supervision.”
“The mom has said that she would make herself responsible for my client,” Canales told the judge.
But Murray denied the request, citing probable cause that he could be a danger to society.
“It is not a reflection on the parents,” the judge said. “It is a public safety issue.”
The teen’s mother, Lucy de la Rosa, placed her arm on his shoulder and wept during Friday’s hearing. Both parents declined to comment.
Maria Esther Galvan, the victim’s mother, said she went to the hearing hoping the boy would be certified as an adult. She said she plans to continue attending the teen’s court proceedings.
“I feel sorry for his parents, but they still have their son,” Maria Esther Galvan said. “I miss her.”
Maria Esther Galvan, who carries a photograph of her daughter in her purse, said Tiffany’s room has remained unchanged since her death.
“This is only the beginning of the legal process,” said her husband, Florentino Galvan.

$1M bond for football player accused of killing Tiffany Galvan

Police: Victim stabbed 48 times

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/galvan-122246-rosa-accused.html
January 31st 2011

A $1 million bond has been placed against a Lopez High School football player accused of killing his ex-girlfriend.
Javier de la Rosa Jr., 17, appeared in a state
District Court this morning where he was arraigned on a capital murder
charge in the stabbing death of 17-year-old Tiffany Vanessa Galvan.
De la Rosa, is accused of stabbing Galvan 48 times. Her body was
found on Aug. 25 in a remote area near Benavides Park on Browne and
California Road.
Authorities said de la Rosa was seen at and leaving the scene where Galvan’s body was discovered.
De la Rosa’s bond had initially been set at $500,000. However, during
a bond hearing this morning retired Judge Menton Murray Jr., increased
De la Rosa’s bond to $1 million. State prosecutors had requested that de
la Rosa be held without bond.
Several Lopez High School football players were in the courtroom for
this morning’s hearing. Also present were de la Rosa’s parents and
Galvan’s mother.


Murder suspect Javier De la Rosa and his attorney Rick Canales looked
back across the courtroom, Monday. De la Rosa is accused in the stabbing
death of his ex-girlfriend Tiffany Galvan.


Courtesy: Cameron County Sheriff's dept.
Javier de la Rosa



Courtesy photo
Tiffany Galvan

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De la Rosa Arraignment De la Rosa ArraignmentFull version