Yudenia Rodriguez

Parties and identities

• Yudenia Rodriguez, the accused.
• Sonia Santiesteban, 65, Rodriguez’s mother and the stabbing victim.
• A 40-year-old woman (Rodriguez).
• A 15-year-old granddaughter/teenage niece who witnessed the attack and attempted to call 911.
• Sonia Santiesteban’s three children she had adopted.
• Two younger half-siblings to the teenage granddaughter.
• Yudenia Rodriguez’s oldest son, who had lost custody of all the children after landing in prison on drug-related charges.
• The children’s mother, who also lost custody, leaving Santiesteban as the closest adult who could take them in.

The offence

Sonia Santiesteban lived in a mobile-home park and lived in a home on the 17300 block of Southwest 232nd Street with her daughter Yudenia Rodriguez and three children she had adopted. On Sunday afternoon, Rodriguez fought with her mother because Santiesteban wanted Rodriguez to move out. Santiesteban frequently used a wheelchair.

Police said Rodriguez pushed her mother to the ground and began hitting her. The 15-year-old granddaughter witnessed the attack and began calling 911. Police said Rodriguez took the phone from the teen and slapped her several times to hinder or delay police contact.

Police said Rodriguez then grabbed a kitchen knife and began stabbing her mother, killing Santiesteban.

Charges and legal status

Rodriguez was arrested and charged with:

• Second-degree murder.
• Child abuse.
• Tampering with a witness.

In online Miami-Dade Corrections records, the child abuse charge was described as “child abuse with no great bodily harm,” and Rodriguez faced charges of second-degree murder and tampering with a witness.

Rodriguez remained in Miami-Dade County jail without bond after appearing in bond court.

Investigation and arrest

Police said Rodriguez refused to speak with investigators and invoked her right to remain silent. An arrest affidavit described Rodriguez as pushing Santiesteban to the floor, removing the 911 phone from the 15-year-old girl, and then fatally stabbing Santiesteban with a knife.

Neighbor Sandy Squire told NBC 6 that the teenager “ran out screaming ‘She has a knife, she has a knife.’”

Trial and court proceedings (bond court)

On Monday, Rodriguez made a bizarre appearance at bond court. She asked a judge to remove her handcuffs and corrected the judge. She said her mother “did not die” and fell asleep in mid-hearing.

Rodriguez appeared remotely via video for the hearing. Judge Ellen Sue Venzer ordered Rodriguez held on no bond on the murder and tampering charges and set bond at $5,000 for the child abuse charge. Rodriguez’s attorney represented her.

At the hearing, Judge Venzer told Rodriguez, “Ms. Rodriguez, you’re charged with killing your mother, OK?” Rodriguez responded, “She didn’t die,” before her attorney cut her off and told her not to say anything.

Judge Venzer ordered Rodriguez not to have any contact with a 15-year-old girl who allegedly saw the crime. Judge Venzer referred to the 15-year-old girl as Rodriguez’s daughter. Rodriguez responded, “No. My daughter wasn’t there,” before the attorney and judge urged her not to speak.

During the bond hearing, Judge Venzer asked Rodriguez if she was alright. Rodriguez asked for the handcuffs behind her back to be taken off. Rodriguez told the judge, “I’m in too much pain,” groaning. Rodriguez whimpered, and Judge Venzer asked corrections officers what was going on. One officer said Rodriguez had to be cuffed that way because she was aggressive. Rodriguez disagreed and told the judge that she was bent over backwards because she was hurting. Corrections officers got Rodriguez a chair. Rodriguez told the judge she was not physically injured. Judge Venzer recommended Rodriguez be seen by a doctor immediately.

Rodriguez’s attorney asked the judge not to order psychological evaluations right away, and Judge Venzer did not order them immediately. Judge Venzer asked the attorney to get those evaluations quickly.

Aftermath and custody arrangements

During an emergency shelter hearing Monday afternoon, temporary custody of the children was given to the family’s pastor, Treavor Pound of Redland Church of the Nazarene.

Treavor Pound said: “As the pastor of the church and the pastor to these kids, they're like family to me and we can take them in.”

Santiesteban’s three grandchildren were with relatives until a hearing was held to determine who would care for them after the stabbing.

Background and family history

Sonia Santiesteban told el Nuevo Herald that she had adopted the children eight years earlier to prevent them from being separated and sent into the foster-care system. She said the two youngest were half-siblings to the teenage granddaughter who witnessed the murder.

Santiesteban’s oldest son lost custody of all the children after he landed in prison on drug-related charges. The children’s mother also lost custody, leaving Santiesteban as the closest adult who could take them in. It was unclear why Rodriguez moved in with her mother, and family history indicated that Santiesteban had mental and emotional problems and that Rodriguez was not living with the family at the time.

Santiesteban was Cuban-born. The family arrived from Cuba in 1980 during the Mariel boatlift. Santiesteban had spent decades cleaning houses and hotels until she suffered a fall on the job in 2011 and broke her hip. After the hip injury, Santiesteban could not get around without a wheelchair.

Santiesteban and her family lived in Boston for years until she decided to leave her abusive husband and head for Miami.

Santiesteban said that the children had changed her life. For Christmas, the family wanted the community to help them repair the mobile home they lived in, where the floor and walls were slowly falling apart. Santiesteban had bought the trailer for $16,000 several years earlier.

Santiesteban indicated she had adopted the children and decided to adopt the 15-year-old and her two smaller siblings to keep them together. The Department of Children and Families said the girl who witnessed the crime is Rodriguez’s niece.

Other details

• Rodriguez remained in Miami-Dade County jail without bond after the court proceedings described.
• Judge Venzer ordered Rodriguez not to have any contact with the 15-year-old girl who allegedly saw the crime.