I have been watching this trial off and on. So far I have not seen anything from the state that would convince me this young man killed Steven. Why doesn’t the state have to prove motive??

I wonder if the bruise on the victim was created by a Karate kick form Rosa and possibly the bruising from the shorts caused by such a blow.’
Does defendant have a tic, or is he very nervous. He is shaking like a leaf all of the time.
Minn.

It is obvious to me what the nail clippers and gloves were doing in Joshua Rosa’s pocket, I wear those cotton type gloves often and it is painful when a long nail or hang nail pulls on the material of the glove! If he put the gloves in his pocket and knew this from prior experience of course he would put the clippers in the pocket with the gloves. All evidence in this case is too circumstantial to send someone away for life in prison. Innocent!

Does anybody has any idea what the possible motive might have been? Was is sexual? I know the rape kit showed no signs of forcible rape, but I can’t imagine what else it could be. Do you think Stephen rebuffed advances made by Rosa? I have to have a motive…I just have to.

Maybe the defendant accidentally killed the victim doing karate moves earlier. When he realized he had lost his keys, he grabbed gloves and a flashlight and went back to look for them. At that time, as the defense stated, he did wipe the victim’s mouth and ran from the scene.

MOST COMPELLING PART OF THE CASE IS…….. MR.ROSA’S LOST KEYS WERE FOUND UNDER THE DECEASED BODY OF YOUNG TOMLINSON.

i think there is an awful lot of reasonable doubt in this case. the doctor ,though appearing very common or ’simple’in his testimony i felt was the most reliable.

Could the keys have fallen out of his pocket when he pulled his gloves out to wipe Steven’s face?
I thought the last witness for the defense did a good job!

I believe that Rosa DID NOT do this. I do think he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I believe that there is a possibilty that the two men smoking and drinking may have done this. How do we know that they wasn’t going to drive back where the boy was to do something with him? They wasn’t suppossed to be driving there anyways and one of the guys in the car DID stay and the boy’s house frequently and also knew the boy well. I think the guys saw Rosa, got scared, and thought they would pin it on him and they would get away. That is my opinion and belief.

I would like to hear more about how the keys got under the victim. Maybe I missed that part, but it doesn’t seem as if they are giving much attention to it. How far down under the victims back or what part of his body were they found. This could determine weather there was a scuffle or did they drop out when the accused held his head?

ii suport joshua he loocks good to mi a inocent

I think he is innocent.

I am just wandering if the other boys who say rosa run out of the woods were questioned as to if they had any invoilvement in the crime. If not, they why. May be they could have had something to do with it and since they said they were drinking and smoking pot and maybe little stephen seen it and they wanted to keep him quiet and then blamed rosa on it since he was there. Just wondering. I hope and pray that Joshua is innocent and I am leaning they way.
Thank you
White Lake mich

Was this guy the Main leader in Rangers, because according to the regulations require the main Commander in charge to be 21.

Just some thoughts that have been brewing since this trial began that I haven’t heard anybody bring up. Joshua Rosa has been a member of a strict Pentacostal church for a number of years. Part of their teachings and edicts involve no participation in homosexual activity. This would be a number one sin. Consider perhaps that Mr Rosa has been a closeted, self-hating gay for years. He is a member of a church that has extremely strict doctrines against homosexuality and even participates in a somewhat leadership role in a small group of kids who are supposed to offer church doctrine and help to other kids. These thoughts have been an underlying part of Joshua’s personality for years perhaps and culminate in one final act when he sees the victim alone in a quiet, wooded area near his home. He loathes the thoughts but cannot resist acting on his long repressed desires. Joshua attempts some form of contact and is either encouraged or rebuffed resulting in a rage that overwhelms him. He strangles the victim, leaving him partly clothed. He runs off with the realization of what he has done and the fear that he will be caught and tried not only in the eyes of his fellow citizens, but in the eyes of God. These are just my thoughts, but I have a feeling that if not convicted, this won’t be the last we hear of Joshua. Thanks for listening.

The prosectuion doesn’t have a strong case at all. They don’t even have a motive. If anything their information supports the defense’s case. He was with the dead child because he found him. It makes sense his blood was all over him because most people touch someone they know that they find lying hurt somewhere. I don’t see how the nail clipper is related. As far as karate moves in the driveway, that just supports my idea of him having trouble with bullies, being jumped and killed by those bullies.

My issue is with the keys and with Joshua Sosa saying he did not know who the boy was! He was his neighbor and was also looking for him an hour before before the murder. As for the keys, he said he went back to look for them because he lost them, oh, and they ended up way up in the woodsy area UNDER the body off the jogging trail??

My condolences to Stephen’s family.

Joshua is innocent until proven guilty. But personally I think something did happen between the 19 year old and the younger boy. What ever it was, the young child lost his life.

Now is this TITLE a joke “Youth Minister” ??? The church elders appoint kids to do what? Joshua had this title when he was 19 years old - How mature and responsible could he have been at that age? Not to mention EDUCATION, LIFE EXPERIENCE at that tender age ????????? Can some one explain this.?

Sure case for the death penalty

I’m sorry, but even as bad as it appears, I cannot say that Rosa did or did not to this.

If Josua was just helping the victim, why did he have smeared blood on his shoes? Especially if there was only blood on Steven’s nose and mouth, and the bloood came after Steven died. Steven wouldn’t have dropped blood in an area where Josh could have smeared it on his shoes or pants if he had just bent down to help Steven.

Why is Joshua Rosa jogging into a known wooded area of marijuana and drinking and do so with a flashlight that is seen by people there to smoke and drink only after they park closer to the wooded area or are trying to get into the wooded area, thus causing the person over Steven’s body to realize someone may be able to see them so they come forward out of the woods with a flashlight they turn on while they’re walking or running or even jogging towards the people in the car trying to come into the wooded area.
And nothing was said about how short Steven Tomlinson’s nails were when the ME did the autopsy. I want to know just how short his nails were.
Why was Joshua Rosa the only one with so much blood on him when others came to the body of Steven Tomlinson and even touched and picked up the body with little or no blood on them? Rosa got the fresh blood of murder on him that’s why.
BTW..I’m a former deputy sheriff

We have had several boys in our area that died from some kind of physical event that took place in the woods (b/c of the “hanging” method” they were trying to get a “high” from a sexual experience between the two, so it was an accidental killing. Was this maybe explored in this case?

I say not guilty, If the defendant killed this boy,
or wanted to kill him, he would have made sure
the boy was dead before he left the body,
not leave him alive for someone to find him.

Rosa is def innocent and if ne1 disagrees then that is rediculous look at all tha evidence ever think that the 2 hoodlums sittn smoking weed and drink prb doing crack coulda had anything to do with it? Member when the specialist said he had to have been held down by more than 1 murder! Seriously!!!

with all the blood on the victims jacket, doesn’t it show that the victim was bleeding prior to him dying? All the blood shows a struggle. Where did all the blood come from. Was the blood on the jacket ever tested to see who’s blood it is that’s on the jacket?

Rosa had come back to the scene of the crime after killing the boy to cover his tracks,that is why he had gloves,flashlight and nailclippers, also the blood was on his hands when he put on the gloves that is why the blood is in side the gloves.

Did Joshua say he lost his keys, and if he did, at what point did he realize that he lost them. After finding his friend dead a running to look for help, Or once he had gotten help. And if he lost his keys what took place after finding his friend that made Joshua realize he didn’t have his keys. If he lost his keys jogging, then found his friend dead, or lost his keys while helping his friend dead, either way the event of his friend being dead should have been so tramatizing, he wouldn’t even had known he had lost his keys, especially if he didn’t him his keys drop anyways. He could have decided to go home and tried to get into his home and couldn’t because he didn’ t have his door key. It probably wasn’t dark when Joshua went into the woods, but after he went back to the woods it probably was dark and he then needed the flashlight.

Did the other guy who tried to help Steven have as much blood on him as Joshua did?

Why did you end the Life feed before the closing arguments were finished? I was curious as to what the prosecution was going to close with.

Why is no one putting their focus on those teenagers that were in the park drinking and smoking pot?
12 hispanic men cannot be excluded from the nail clippers, did anyone take a look at that inmate that testified?

I sympathize deeply with the Tomlinson’s family, but putting a innocent person in jail for the rest of their life, is also very sad.
I pray to God the jurors make the right decision in this case.

I feel Joshua Rosa is innocent. There is no motive. He was simply trying to help Steven. I think we should investigate the ones in the park doing the drugs and drinking. I think the pants were pulled down so he couldn’t run or kick, and I think there were more than one person involved. One question-what got him in the park at that hour, and was he alone when he went to the park. Joshua has a clean healthy background, with church, school, and work. Hope he is found innocent.

Were the missing keys of the defendant ever found?Motive? Why were his pants down when he was found?

I don’t believe that the proscution did a very good job at proving the guilt of Rosa but I don’t necessarily believe that Rosa is innocent either.

Doesn’t it make sense that Rosa could have have returned to the scene of the crime some time later (30min or so after changing clothes and washing up) …. with the gloves & clippers to look for his keys which would explain that the blood on the gloves didn’t occur during the murder but from the 2nd encounter as Rosa had to touch Stephen while looking for his keys. When Rosa realized that the ‘party’ guys were close and couldn’t find his keys; he put the gloves in his pocket and ran out. Did the police and DA do their job here?

I THINK JOSHUA ROSA IS NOT THE KILLER BECAUSE HE WOULD TRY TO HIDE IF HE WAS AND HE WOULD HIDE THE GLOVES AND HE NEVA DID THAT SO THEREFORE I THINK HE NOT THE KILLER

I cannot understand why people are choosing to ignore the forensic evidence in this case. The blood on his hands and shoes i guess you can attribute to trying to help the victim, but the gloves having blood and the nail clippers having the victims DNA on it simply cannot. As far as motive just because its not a in-your-face explination does not mean there isn’t one! This is absurd that so many people are trying to reason and explain all the concrete facts to say he’s innocent. Lets get real and use your heads not your hearts, thank goodness none of you are on that jury because you’d let a cold blooded killer free!

Considering that the District Attorney had 2 years to prepare the case, it seems very poor delivery. The defense also seems awkward. I feel sorry for the defendent regardless of guilt or innocence.

If the victim’s brother had to leave town due to threats 1 week before the victim’s death, wouldn’t it make sense to look into his enemies?
Why are two of the witnesses convicted felons? Why couldn’t they have done it? As to the flashlight, nail clippers and keys, many men carry small ones with their keys. This is not strange. The keys could have gotten under the body when the victim was lifted by the skinhead witness. As to gloves while jogging, it was December and even in Tampa, it is cold outside. Gloves are reasonable.

Way too much reasonable guilt to convict.

Here’s my theory - The victim threatened to tell on his brother and friends for smoking pot, they pants’ed him, roughed him up and left him in the woods, maybe not even realizing how bad they had hurt him. Interesting how they all started boistrously accusing the guy who found the boy. I think Whitely recognized Stephen from 7 ft away because he already knew who it was and why he was there. I don’t think Rosa has anyhting to do with it other than trying to help.

I’m not all that impressed with Mr. Rosa’s position in the church and how that relates to the murder. After all, wasn’t BTK killer quite the pillar of society in his own hometown where he wreaked havoc all those years? I only use this as a reference point. And did not a rabbi want to hire a hitman to kill his wife. Please, people make some terrible decisions that lead to harm to others and themselves. THere is no reasonable doubt with reasonable people on the jury.

This case is a very hard case to determine. Here you have a small 13 yr old boy and a 19 yr old man both knew each other, whether they spent time together all time or hardly ever, they still knew each other. No one actually knows what happened to that poor boy but the man upstairs. A part of me wants to believe that he didnt do it because here you have a angry community and a man joshua who has the boys DNA on it, and when the community hears that information they are to quick to assume the worst. Joshua rosa could have very well been running in the park and tried to help the boy. None of the witnesses testimoneys were consistant. The stories changed from one minute to the next. Another part of me wants me to believe he did do it because of the the location of the keys. How did those keys get there under the boys body? Joshua rosa stated that when he was running he lost his keys and then moments later he found the boy. That sounds a little odd but not out of the ordinary. Also what i dont get is if he lost his keys and he was the one that killed this boy why didnt he know to look under the boys body for the keys? Usually in most cases when someone kills someone they dont bring things intentionally knowing that it can be lost in the struggle of killing someone especially keys. Do we know how long joshua was running the park before the incident happened? Do we know if the boy was already there before joshua rosa appeared to start running? Do we know if joshua rosa was running through that part of woods and if he was do we even know if the killing happened at particular moment? How do we know that joshua rosa wasnt running in that park an hour before the incident and decided to run through that particular path because runners to like to switch up there running paths, and did drop his keys and then the murder occured shortly there after. See know one knows the answers to those questions in court because they were never asked. My regards to go out for that poor boys family and i do hope that justice does get served but in a fair way.

It seems kind of odd that he was joging thru the park and sees his friend laying there dead. How could some one else set him up? I think it would be one in a millon for that to happen like that

What I don’t understand is “who” possibly might have murdered Stephen if Rosa did not do it?

Thanks

I admit I would normally be a defense attorney’s worst nightmare as a juror. I am always biased in favor of the prosecution right off the bat, especially when there is a child victim and I was here too.

But more than one thing strikes me as really off base with the prosecution’s case. I think the single most damning piece of evidence against Rosa is the single spot of blood on the INSIDE of his pant leg at the knee and I wasn’t able to hear how the defense explained that.

But even with that, there are just too many things that strike me as off base with the prosecution’s case. I have real doubt this crime could have been committed by a single person. The prosecution says he was strangled from behind with a single hand while the other hand covered his mouth. You have any idea how hard it is to actually kill someone like that even if a 13 yr. old wasn’t putting up a fight at all?

The victim had a fairly large patch of blood on the back of his shirt at the shoulder that was a contact or transfer stain. Yet there is no blood anywhere on the front of Rosa’s shirt to make that contact stain and the amounts seen on the gloves do not look like either glove had enough to account for that stain. The prosecution’s theory about the use of nail clippers strikes me as ludicrous and I don’t consider it significant that the victim’s DNA was on them after being in the same pocket as the gloves.

The partial, very minimal DNA profile under the victim’s nails implicates someone other than Rosa far more than it implicates him, someone of a totally different race. His behavior at the time is not consistent with being caught like a deer in the headlights just moments after committing a murder. There is no reason to believe this previously upstanding kid had the criminal sophistication at 19 to instantly pull his act together and immediately start acting like an innocent person just moments after killing someone by running towards total strangers screaming for a phone.

I think Rosa probably did commit this murder. But it is also NEARLY as possible he really is a victim of bad circumstances and an investigation that never bothered to check for any other possible suspects -not even after that partial DNA profile was far more consistent with someone of a different race than Rosa. Even though I would always be second guessing myself about whether I let a killer go free -if I were a juror, that’s reasonable doubt. Which is the very first time I ever had reasonable doubt about the guilt of any defendant in any of the many televised trials I have watched.

On air, Jack Ford said the live closing argument could be seen on this web site–well, if that is true you have succeeded in hiding it well!

I’ve been watching this case since it started on tuesday and it doesn’t take a rocket science to know the verdict, NOT GUILTY!!! All thou the state tried its very best to do what they can with limited evidence and i do mean limited because most off everything they have is circumstantial. They just had lots of pressure on them to bring something to court, but they have nothing. All Joshua Rosa is guilty of is trying to help his young friend. He could of ran anywhere into the woods to get away, emptied his pockets of all the evidence he had and got away scott clean, but he didn’t do anything. The poor kid was jogging in the park, lost his keys and came upon his friend. NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY NOT GUILTY 100%. Too Too much reasonable doubt for any jury to sentence a 22 year old ( with a squeaky clean background may i add) to life in prison. No way no how.

I personally think that Joshua is very much so not guilty. From what I have been watching so far which is day 1. I believe that the jury should find him not guilty for many of reasons: 1) he really did try to help.2) if you stumble across something and it indeed startle you of course you are not going to get a good look at it and run so therefore i believe at first he didn’t know who it was until he went back with help. 3) no it’s not weird to be in a park running with gloves and fingernails clippers in your pocket. I personally takes jogs with things in my pocket that was in there from another date and time. 4) it’s more than normal that if you lose something in the dark you do get a flash light and go to look for what ever you have lost. What is wrong with that. I hope that the jury will look at what was before the days of trial and make a good decision. I pray for Joshua and his family also for the other family for their lost loved one.

I think that Josh Rosa did not take the stand because he is guilty and was afraid that he might say the wrong thing in cross examination. If he was innocent he could have told his story, since everyone seems to think that the evidence shows he is innocent. He may look innocent and young, but so did a lot of other murderers who looked like the boy next door. He has a secret that he will have to live with. Also, being a youth minister does not make him any less guilty. I think he is just hiding behind his religion. What about the other child molesters who are priests or ministers. They tend to try to do things that will put them close to kids.

I think there was a rush to judgement. The evidence is weak and easily disputed. Not only is this young man being charged without real evidence; the real killer(s) may have escaped detection.

I didn’t hear anything about Rosa’s keys until closing. I did miss some of the trial. I was wondering if it was possible that Stephen took them & that might be why Rosa was seeking him out & eventually found him & them.

i have been following this case since the begining and what i canr get past is why did he say he didnt know the victim when he was with him at 5;30 and if he did strangel the victim then why did he stay also if he didnt go to church why have the gloves to begin with

The prosecutor didn’t prove that Rosa was the one that did the murder. The only thing that he proved was that out of all the young people at the park Rosa tried to get help, while others fled!! That troubles me! RUSH, to judgement yes we know that Rosa was there because he screamed it from the mountaintops so to speak!! Yes, he had the victims blood on him, he checked to see if he could help. Then in a rush for help he drops his keys, is that so hard to get? The prosecutor wants to tie up this awful murder due to the keys under the victim when we know a friend of the family said when he lifted up the victim the scene was not undisturbed by any means!! Rosa could’ve fled unseen if he wanted to, he stayed, tried to get help and now he’s being PUNISHED!! JUSTICE? I hope the jurors get it right and find NOT GUILTY!!! Otherwise, folks will run as far as they can from someone who might need a helping hand!!!!! Please, let true justice help our ever failing system and the true murderers be found!!!

what are the odds that the defendant and the dead boy just happened to be at the same place at the same time?

I believe Rosa is guilty. He was probably out in the forest area smoking marijuana or doing something illegal and here comes along Stephen and finds him. That would be Rosa’s motive, especially being a youth pastor, his reputation is critical. The least thing that would be on my mind if I found the body is to cut Stephen’s fingernails. However, if I had committed the murder (Rosa) it would be on my mind to cut the fingernails because I wouldn’t want anything to link back to me.

Josh Rosa needs some help at any incarceration institution.

Rosa’s keys under the victim, he didn’t know who the boy was he saw dying (or dead). These are two of the most damaging things against the defendant.

I think Joshua Rosa got the shaft from this jury system!
I do not believe that young man did anything wrong except
TRY TO HELP when he came upon Stephen Tomlinson!
Joshua Rosa is wrongly convicted! He is innocent! What’s
wrong with this system???

i am very sad to hear about the case. Glad it is over. As a parent of a 12 year old boy, I can only imagine the horror the parents of the victim are experiencing. As far as the nail clippers, I believe Joshua had them with him in case the vicitm did fight back- so Joshua could get DNA evidence removed from his fingernails(blood, dirt, whatever) as he attempted to clip them off. Problem was he added the victim’s DNA to the clippers after he was finished clipping his own nails. Clearly shows premeditation.

I think the outcome would have been different if Joshua had taken the stand and told the jury that he had asked Steven to go on his bike and look along the path for his keys, then when he didn’t return gone to look for and found him. Steven could have had the keys in HIS hand when attacked. The clippers were in the pocket for days, the gloves used to wipe the boys face while he was still bleeding.

I am sadden to see Mr Rosa found guilty. The state never questioned WHY in it’s case. If Rosa was into drugs or improper sexual acts or was trying to commit one and then forced to hide it, there will be a prior history. You can not hide that sort of things from everyone’s suspisions. How do you get a boy’s pants down and then
choke him without bruses on both parties?

Okay, the deal with the pants. As a teacher I see young men all day long wearing ridiculously loose pants. Many of the guys have to hold onto the waist to keep them from falling down. Other guys wear them so low, its as though they are asking for their friends to de-pants them. I’m not saying this is a fact in the case, but suppose two friends who like to challenge each other with psudo-martial arts moves get too into it. One gets hurt and the other is scared as hell…hmmmmm. Again, not fact, but “reasonable doubt”.