Boxer Félix Verdejo sentenced to life in prison for grisly killing of pregnant lover
Former boxer Félix Verdejo received two sentences of life in prison in his native Puerto Rico after being found guilty of killing his 27-year-old pregnant lover, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
Verdejo, 30, was found guilty in July on charges of kidnapping that leads to a death and of causing the death of an unborn child, but avoided convictions for carjacking that resulted in the death of a person and possession of a weapon during a violent crime after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
His attorney said he plans to appeal the sentencing, per The Associated Press.
A competitor in the 2012 Olympics in London, Verdejo held a professional record of 27-12, with his final fight in December 2020. Five months later, he was charged in connection to the death of 27-year-old Keishla Rodríguez after turning himself in to authorities in San Juan.
The details of Rodríguez's killing are beyond disturbing. Prosecutors alleged Verdejo, who is married with a daughter, executed a premeditated plan of luring Rodríguez to his car, punching her, injecting her with drugs, tying her to a cement block with metal wire and throwing her off the Teodoro Moscoso bridge into the San José Lagoon, with the aid of co-defendant Luis Antonio Cádiz-Martínez. He is also alleged to have jumped into the lagoon to ensure her death.
From the DOJ:
“Today’s life sentence rightly holds Verdejo-Sánchez responsible for the pain and suffering he inflicted on his victims,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “To this day, the defendant maintains his unrepentant attitude. Like Verdejo-Sánchez now knows, anyone who commits cold-blooded crimes of violence in violation of federal law will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by the Justice Department and this office.”
Per the AP, Cádiz said during the trial that Verdejo had pressured Rodríguez to get an abortion. Cádiz later called 911 anonymously and provided the location of Rodríguez’s body.
An autopsy reportedly found Rodríguez had fentanyl and xylazine, mostly used as a horse sedative, in her body.
