Former Olympic boxerFélix Verdejo Sánchezwas sentenced to life in prison Friday for the kidnapping and murder of his pregnant girlfriend in Puerto Rico, authorities announced.
According to local newspaperEl Nuevo Dia, which cites a defense motion, Verdejo’s attorney has filed an appeal in the federal case.
GDA via AP Images, GoFundMe
During the trial, Luis Antonio Cádiz-Martínez, who was also charged in the case, testified Verdejo pressured Rodríguez Ortiz into getting an abortion before she was killed, according to theAssociated Press.
Cádiz-Martínez pleaded guilty last year to carjacking resulting in death and killing an unborn child, per multiple reports. He is still awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutors said in the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s release that on the morning of April 29, 2021, the two men lured Rodríguez Ortiz into Verdejo’s Dodge Durango. Verdejo then punched Rodríguez Ortiz and injected her with drugs before tying her with metal wire to a cement block.
Félix Verdejo Sánchez.Ramon " Tonito " Zayas/GDA via AP
Ramon " Tonito " Zayas/GDA via AP
Verdejo then drove to the Teodoro Moscoso bridge, and, with Cadiz-Martínez’s help, threw Rodríguez Ortiz into the San José Lagoon in San Juan. “[Verdejo] later jumped into the lagoon in order to finish murdering both victims,” the release states.
According to the AP, Cádiz-Martínez later made an anonymous 911 call and provided the location of Ortiz Rodríguez’s body.
Rodríguez Ortiz’s body was recovered on May 1, 2021 in the lagoon and Verdejo surrendered to authorities shortly after.
The AP reports that an autopsy determined Rodríguez Ortiz had fentanyl and xylazine, a sedative used for animals including horses, in her system. A pathologist testified that Rodríguez Ortiz was still alive when she was thrown into the lagoon, perNBC News.
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“May he live the rest of his life thinking about everything he did to my daughter,” Rodríguez’s father, José Antonio Rodríguez, said while speaking with reporters after the July verdict, perTelemundo Puerto Rico.
Rodríguez Ortiz’s death sparked protests across the island over the treatment of women and led Gov. Pedro Pierluisi to declare astate of emergency for gender violencein Puerto Rico, drawing attention to what he described as “the consequences of systematic machismo, inequity, discrimination, lack of education, lack of guidance and above all, lack of action.”
“This sentence should serve as a lesson for others,” Puerto Rico Police Commissioner Antonio López said, per the AP. “It doesn’t matter how much fame, money or power you think you have. If you break the law, you will have to respond.”
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
