High school football player arrested in death of pregnant cheerleader

Updated

An Indiana high school football player has been accused of killing a 17-year-old pregnant classmate and dumping her remains behind a restaurant.

The body of Breana Rouhselang, a junior student and cheerleader at Mishawaka High School, was discovered in a dumpster behind Pasquale Rulli's Restaurant about a block away from the house she shared with her mother.

Lt. Alex Arendt of the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit told the Associated Press that relatives of the slain teenager had last seen her around midnight on Saturday and had called police around 4:30 a.m. Sunday after they "got the feeling that something wasn't right."


Photo: Facebook

WNDU reports that police searching for Rouhselang found "evidence of a violent crime" near the restaurant before ultimately discovering her body in the dumpster.

Police arrested Aaron Trejo, a 16-year-old student and football player at Mishawaka High School, Sunday on a preliminary murder charge. The St. Joseph County prosecutor’s office said that formal murder charges were expected to be filed against the teen on Monday.

Photo: St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit

Nicole Rouhselang, Breana Rouhselang's stepmother, told reporters that her stepdaughter was about six months pregnant when she was killed.

"I’ve known her since she was six," she said. "I just don’t understand it."

Investigators said at a press conference they believe Rouhselang and Trejo knew each other through the football team but did not elaborate on their relationship.

Police have not yet released details about a possible motive. An autopsy is set to be conducted this week to determine Rouhselang's cause of death.

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