The boxer Félix Verdejo, who surrendered to the Puerto Rican authorities this Sunday after the death of his lover, Keishla Rodríguez, will remain in prison and without bail, according to the decision of the judge Camille Vélez Rivé.
"Due to the nature and circumstances surrounding this case, Mr. Verdejo, you will remain detained without bail,"
the magistrate told the 27-year-old man, who appeared on Monday virtually from the Guaynabo federal prison.
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Verdejo is facing charges for the alleged kidnapping that resulted in the death of the young woman,
carjacking
[illegal seizure of a car] with the same outcome, and intentionally killing an unborn child, since Rodríguez was pregnant.
As the judge explained to him on Monday, he can receive a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
Verdejo, nicknamed
El Diamante
, surrendered to federal agents Sunday night to face charges just hours after authorities confirmed that the body of the 27-year-old woman found in a lagoon belonged to Rodríguez.
A criminal complaint filed by the FBI accuses Verdejo of hitting Keishla Rodríguez in the face and injecting her with a syringe with an unidentified substance acquired in a public housing complex.
The indictment notes that Verdejo later tied the victim's hands and feet and tied a heavy block to her before throwing her into a lagoon in the island's capital from a bridge on Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m.
The boxer then shot the body from the bridge, according to the complaint.
The document assures that a witness, who was not identified, helped Verdejo to kidnap and assassinate Rodríguez.
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The woman's body was found in the lagoon on Saturday, a couple of days after her disappearance was reported.
The victim was identified Sunday thanks to his dental records, reported the Institute of Forensic Sciences of Puerto Rico.
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Verdejo and his lawyers previously declined to comment, with police saying the boxer initially refused to cooperate or answer questions.
Rodríguez's family indicated that she was expecting a child from Verdejo.
Keila Ortiz, the victim's mother, told reporters that her daughter had called her on the phone before she disappeared on Thursday and told her that Verdejo was going to her home to see the results of a pregnancy test.
Bereliz Nichole, in the center, sister of the young Keishla Rodríguez, found dead in a lagoon near San Juan, participates in a protest against her murder, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 2, 2021. EFE / Thais LLorca
"I told him: 'Be careful'. Because he had already threatened her not to have it,"
since this, he said, would affect his career and his family, said Ortiz Rivera in an interview with Wapa Televisión.
Verdejo is married but had known Rodríguez since high school and they had remained in contact, the victim's parents said.
They reported her missing after she failed to show up for work at a veterinary clinic.
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Verdejo (27-2, 17
knockouts
) represented Puerto Rico at the 2012 Olympics, the same year he turned professional in the lightweight division.
His career was temporarily affected after he suffered a motorcycle accident in 2016 that sent him to the hospital.
This femicide has generated outrage in Puerto Rico, where the charred body of another woman was recently found after filing a complaint for domestic violence that was dismissed by a judge.
A Supreme Court magistrate announced an investigation into that ruling.
Hundreds of people gathered Sunday on a bridge across the lagoon where Rodríguez's body was found to demand justice for her and other murdered women.
Some of the attendees threw flowers into the water.
The governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi, said this Sunday that he reiterates his "commitment to the fight against gender violence and to continue putting action and resources where the word is," while revealing that the Supervisory Board Prosecutor reduced the allocation for the fight against violence against women.
"It is crucial that we maintain this current level of attention to the crime of gender violence that brings so much loss, consternation and anguish to our society. There should be no doubt that we are in a state of emergency for gender violence," he said in a release.
With information from Efe, AP and El Nuevo Día.