Félix Verdejo-Sánchez, a boxer who competed for the United States team in the 2012 Olympics, has been convicted in the deaths of his pregnant girlfriend and her preborn child. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, he killed her because she refused to have an abortion.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Verdejo-Sánchez was convicted of kidnapping resulting in death as well as one count of causing the death of a preborn child. Unanimous verdicts could not be reached on the additional charges of intercepting and stealing a vehicle with the consequence of causing death or of carrying a weapon to commit a violent crime.
The press release noted that on April 29, 2021, Verdejo-Sánchez carried out his premeditated plan to murder Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz and her preborn child. The co-defendant in the case, Luis Cádiz Martínez, said Verdejo-Sánchez had been pressuring Rodríguez Ortiz to have an abortion, but when she refused, he decided to kill her.
The pair lured Rodríguez Ortiz into an SUV, where Verdejo-Sánchez punched her, then injected her with drugs and tied her with metal wire to a cement block. The two then drove to the Teodoro Moscoso bridge and threw her into the San José Lagoon in Puerto Rico. Verdejo Sánchez then jumped into the lagoon to finish killing his girlfriend and their child.
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Cádiz Martínez eventually made an anonymous 911 call that would lead police to the bodies. The Associated Press reported that the pathologist’s report said Rodríguez Ortiz was still alive when she was thrown into the water. Her toxicology report revealed fentanyl and xylazine in her system; xylazine is a tranquilizer used for large animals, like horses and cattle, and is not approved for use in humans.
It is becoming tragically more common for women to be murdered after refusing abortions. Homicide is now the leading cause of death for pregnant women. Research published on November 1, 2021, in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology revealed that homicide during pregnancy “exceeded all the leading causes of maternal mortality.”
Verdejo-Sánchez is facing a mandatory life sentence, with sentencing scheduled for early November.
“There are damages which cannot ever be repaired, not even by a just verdict,” FBI San Juan Special Agent in Charge Joseph González said in the press release. “In cases such as these, all we can do is give our all in the pursuit of justice. Today, I can say that my team did exactly that, and I am proud of their dedication.”
