| Rosie Alfaro | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 12, 1971 (age 40) California, United States |
| Conviction(s) | First-degree murder with special circumstances. The special circumstances were: the murder occurred during the commission of the felonies of Burglary, and Robbery.[1][2][1][2][3] |
Rosie Alfaro (born October 12, 1971) is an American female murderer currently on California's death row for the 1990 murder of 9 year old Autumn Wallace in Anaheim, California. Autumn Wallace, the victim, allowed Alfaro inside the home as she recognized Alfaro as a past guest on numerous occasions, and an acquaintance of her older sister. Autumn was home alone, waiting for her sister and mom to return from work, when Alfaro arrived and asked if she could come inside to use the restroom. Alfaro, who was 18 years old, pregnant, and high on cocaine and heroin, needed another fix, burgled the Wallace home, ultimately to garner cash to enable her to purchase drugs. When Alfaro originally planned to approach the Wallace home, she did not expect to find anyone home; when she found Autumn at home, she then realized she would have to kill her because she would know who committed the burglary. Alfaro stabbed Autumn 57 times, and then proceeded to take anything and everything of apparent value. She later changed her original confession and stated that an unidentified male accomplice forced her to start stabbing the girl, and then he finished the slaying. Alfaro has never identified the male; police and the Orange County Prosecutor say he never existed.
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Alfaro was raised in the barrio in Anaheim, California, near Disneyland. She became a drug addict at 13, a prostitute at 14 and a single mom at 15, and mother to 4 children at 18. Eventually, she became a murderer at 18 (while pregnant with twins) and the first woman in Orange County, California to get the death penalty at 20.
On June 15, 1990, Autumn Wallace, aged 9, was home alone in Anaheim, California; she was waiting for her older sister and mother to return home from work. Rosie Alfaro was high on cocaine and heroin and needed a fix. She knew the Wallace family and was friendly with one of the older daughters. She thought they were out and that she would be able to steal items from the home to sell so she could get her fix.
Autumn opened the door for Alfaro, her sister's friend, who asked to use the restroom. She took a knife from the kitchen before proceeding to the restroom, located at the back of the house. She then coaxed Autumn into the restroom on a ruse, and stabbed her over 50 times. Alfaro then ransacked the house for anything she could steal, ultimately to acquire drug money. The stolen property was later sold for less than $300.
Alfaro confessed to the crime during a police-taped interview, stating she was high on heroin and cocaine when she stabbed Autumn. Later she changed her story and alleged an unidentified man "forced" her to stab the little girl. Still later Alfaro told police that two men drove her to the Wallace home, and one of the men came into the house and forced her to kill Autumn. She refused to identify the man. The evidence from the crime scene indicated that only members of the Wallace family and Alfaro (based on her fingerprints and a matched bloodstained shoe print) were present in the home that day. [3][4][5]
She was tried and convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances. At the end of the penalty phase of the trial, the jury deadlocked 10-2 on the sentence of death. The penalty phase of the trial was then declared a mistrial. A second jury unanimously voted to recommend the death penalty. The trial judge upheld the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Alfaro to death. [6] [7]
In August 2007, the California Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold Alfaro's death sentence.[8][9]