FILE – Puerto Rican boxer Felix Verdejo poses after his weigh-in at Madison Sq. Backyard in New York, June 10, 2016. Verdejo acquired two life sentences on Nov. 3, 2023 after he was discovered responsible within the killing of his 27-year-old pregnant lover. (AP Picture/Bebeto Matthews, File)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Former Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo acquired two life sentences on Friday after he was discovered responsible within the grisly killing of his 27-year-old pregnant lover.
A federal decide sentenced Verdejo following emotional speeches by the household of Keishla Rodríguez, who was killed in April 2021.
Verdejo had been found guilty in July of kidnapping that results in a demise and of inflicting the demise of an unborn youngster. His legal professional stated Friday that he plans to attraction the sentencing.
Many throughout Puerto Rico celebrated the result of the case.
“This sentence ought to function a lesson for others,” Puerto Rico Police Commissioner Antonio López stated. “It doesn’t matter how a lot fame, cash or energy you suppose you’ve got. Should you break the regulation, you’ll have to reply.”
Through the trial earlier this yr, Luis Antonio Cádiz, a pal of Verdejo’s additionally charged within the case, stated the previous boxer had pressured Rodríguez to get an abortion. He additionally testified that the day Verdejo killed Rodríguez, the ex-boxer punched her and injected her with a poisonous substance earlier than they tied her limbs to a cement block and threw her off a busy bridge and right into a lagoon in broad daylight.
Cádiz later known as 911 anonymously and offered the placement of Rodríguez’s physique.
An post-mortem discovered that Rodríguez had fentanyl and xylazine, a sedative used for animals together with horses, in her system.
The case shocked the U.S. territory, the place many have demanded higher safety for home violence victims.
Verdejo had participated within the 2012 Olympics and have become an expert boxer that yr. He completed his profession within the light-weight division with a 27-2 file, with 17 knockouts.
