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Grandmother Pleads Insanity In Death Of 2-Year-Old

The jury was selected and opposing sides offered opening statements on Monday. The first eyewitness was called to testify Monday afternoon.

The jury selected for the Carmela Dela Rosa murder trial heard opening arguments from opposing sides and the testimony of one eyewitness during court on Monday afternoon.

Dela Rosa has been charged with murdering her granddaughter, 2-year-old Angelyn Ogdoc, on Nov. 29, 2010.

Surveillance cameras at Tysons Corner Center captured Dela Rosa dropping the girl from a bridge that connected the mall to a parking garage, approximately 44 feet from the pavement. The defendant has pled not guilty by reason of insanity.

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In his opening statement, prosectuor Ray Morrogh described Dela Rosa as "selfish," "bent on evil" and a "spiteful woman who wanted revenge."

He spoke about the "hatred" she harbored for her son-in-law James Ogdoc — a hatred so intense it ultimately led her to kill his daughter.

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Mary "Kat" Ogdoc, Dela Rosa's daughter, started exclusively dating James Ogdoc in 2004, when they were students at Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School in Arlington. They later both enrolled at George Mason University. Kat Odgoc became pregnant in the fall of 2007 and the couple married the following year. Angelyn Ogdoc was born on June 21, 2008.

Morrogh, representing the Commonwealth of Virginia for the case, explained to jurors that Carmela Dela Rosa was furious when she learned of the pregnancy. "She felt this man stole her child from her too soon," he said.

He also argued that the defendant does not meet the legal standard of insanity because she understood  the "nature, character and consequence of her actions" and that she was able to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the offense.

Public Defender Dawn Dawn Butorac spent her opening statement arguing the opposite — that her client was insane when she dropped her granddaughter from the bridge and that her diagnosis of major depressive disorder, dating back to 2000, shows she has a history of mental illness that had progressively become severe over the course of 10 years.

Butorac described Dela Rosa as a "daddy's girl" and the "baby of the family." She also related to the jury that in between the defendant's bouts of depressive episodes, she was known for organizing neighborhood pot luck parties and giving presents to co-workers. She was a deeply religious woman who insisted on scraping money together to send her children to Catholic school. Dela Rosa loved to sing, dance and was "the life of the party," Butorac said.

"She is a kind, giving, loving person when not in a major depressive episode," Butorac said. "She loved Angelyn. She doted on Angelyn. She spoiled Angelyn."

Dela Rosa, who immigrated from the Philipines when she was 18 years old, was first diagnosed with major depressive disorder when her father died in 2000.

Her attorney described Dela Rosa's symptoms of the mental illness, including low appetite, insomnia, a fear of being alone and a fear of leaving the house. At times, she would hide her husband's keys before he left for work to delay him leaving.

Over the decade, the illness progressively became worse, Butorac said.

One week before the crime was committed, Dela Rosa learned her brother had died in the Phillipines. She also spent five days alone at her house that week while her husband and son celebrated Thanksgiving in Ocean City, Md. During that time, Butorac said, she didn't shower, eat, take her prescription medications or see anyone.

On Nov. 29, 2010,  Dela Rosa went to Tysons Corner Center with her husband, her teenage son, her daughter Kat and her granddaughter Angelyn for dinner. The family ate kabobs and flatbread in the food court.

Dela apparently became agitated when James Ogdoc, who was not present at dinner, called Kat on her cell phone. She became upset with her son David when he refused to let her take a photo of him.

"It was a perfect storm," Butorac said. "The situation was coming to a head."

At approximately 7:08 p.m., as the family was leaving the mall to return to the parking garage, Dela Rosa lifted Angelyn over the bridge railing and dropped her.

Monique Cox, an eyewitness who testified after the opening statements, said the child hit a small tree and landed just feet away from where she was walking with her fiance on the sidewalk.

They were so close, Cox said, "we could have reached out and caught her."

Cox dialed 911 and the family rushed down the stairs from the bridge.

"I was on my knees. I didn't know what to do," Cox said. "Everyone was screaming and freaking out."

Angelyn was taken to the hospital and died around 4 a.m. the next morning. Dela Rosa was transported to the McLean precinct of the Fairfax County Police Department and questioned the night the incident occurred.

She "clearly, concisely, coherently explains what she did," Morrogh said during his opening argument.

Much of the trial will likely focus on the state of Dela Rosa's mental health during the time the crime was committed and her history of mental illness in the decade leading up to that moment.

Both the prosecution and the defense have made the jury aware of several suicide attempts or "suicidal gestures," during which Dela Rosa exhibited behaviors indicating she intended to take her own life.

On two occasions she overdosed on pills. On another, she intentionally drove down an embankment off Skyline Drive, totaling her car. She cut her wrists on a seperate occasion.

Although the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dela Rosa committed the crime, it is the defense team's burden to prove she was insane when the crime was committed.

"We're about to take a very unpleasant journey," Morrogh told the jury.

The court reconvenes on Tuesday morning.

Update 3:49 p.m.: Opening statements in the trial for Carmela Dela Rosa are expected to begin around 4 p.m. in front of a 12-member jury, including testimony about the 51-year-old grandmother's prior suicide attempts.

The defense said a history of suicide attempts would be part of its case this afternoon, along with some testimony about major depressive disorder.

Both the prosecution and defense have called several medical experts as witnesses.

Nine men and five women were selected for the jury today, though it's not clear which of them were selected for the 12-member active jury or for the two jury alternates.

Original 1:13 p.m.: Grandmother Pleads Insanity In Death Of 2-Year-Old

The grandmother after allegedly throwing her over a Tysons Corner Center walkway pleaded not guilty Monday by reason of insanity as her trial began in Fairfax County Court.

The trial for Carmela Dela Rosa, 51, who wore all black in court Monday morning, is expected to last 10 days, including jury deliberation. Judge Bruce White will preside over the case, which could have a decision as soon as Oct. 12.

Several potential witnesses have been identified so far, including Mary and James Ogdoc, the parents of 2-year-old Angelyn Ogdoc, who died the morning after her fall off an outdoor walkway that connected the mall to the fifth floor of a parking garage.

Under Virginia law, Dela Rosa is presumed sane at the time of the crime. It will be Deputy Public Defender Dawn Butorac's job to prove she was insane when she allegedly threw her granddaughter over the walkway.

Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Morrogh spent the morning screening potential jury members. Entering the afternoon session, Butorac, who will represent Dela Rosa, is expected to do the same.

Angelyn Ogdoc's parents were both 2006 graduates of Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School in Arlington. Mary, who goes by "Kat," was employed at George Mason University as an assistant program coordinator at the time of her daughter's death. James was a psychology student at the university.

This story is from day one of the trial.

Check back with Patch this week as the trial continues.

Day Two:


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