Trial date set for Lawrence man charged with killing of ex-girlfriend
Jul. 3—SALEM, Mass. — This fall, some five years after he allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend while she was sleeping with their young son, Emilio DeLarosa of Lawrence is scheduled to go on trial for murder.
The first degree murder trial was delayed, among other major trials, due to the COVID-19 pandemic which caused disruptions and tightened regulations at courthouses in Essex County and across the country.
The trial is now scheduled for Oct. 12, following a hearing in superior court this week.
Delarosa, 36, is charged with killing Wanda Rosa, his 29-year-old girlfriend on the morning of Sept. 12, 2016 in her Methuen apartment.
Authorities said the couple's son, then age 4, was sleeping in bed with his mother in her Tudor Street apartment when DeLarosa strangled her to death.
After killing the woman, authorities say DeLarosa fled the area and remained at-large for nearly a year until he was captured living and working under another identity on the West Coast.
Police initially responded to the apartment after a relative requested a wellness check on Rosa. After forcing entry into the apartment, officers found her unresponsive. She was taken to Holy Family Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Before fleeing the area, DeLarosa took his son to a relative's home in Lawrence, officials said.
He remains held at Middleton Jail as he awaits trial.
Extensive court records show DeLarosa had a lengthy pattern of domestic violence against Rosa.
DeLarosa had previously served four years in prison for abusing Rosa and also had violated the terms of his probation.
He had been released from Massachusetts state prison in January 2016.
Potential evidence prosecutors have in the murder case include a forensic interview with the couple's young son, according to previously filed documents. The boy allegedly pleaded with DeLarosa to stop hurting his mother that morning.
Forensic interviews are structured conversations by investigators which are intended to elicit detailed information from someone who witnessed or was the victim of a crime.
Other potential evidence, according to court papers filed by prosecutor Kate MacDougall, include grand jury testimony from numerous people, including State Trooper Michael Murphy, Rosa's autopsy report and autopsy photographs, crime scene video and an interview with DeLarosa following his capture Sept. 13, 2017.
After allegedly killing Rosa, he remained at-large until Sept. 6, 2017 when he was located in Patterson, California.
Early on the morning of Sept. 6, when he left his home, he was stopped and arrested by a combination of local, state and federal authorities.
A final pre-trial hearing in the case was scheduled for Sept. 7.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.
