Boxer Félix Verdejo has been found guilty Friday on two charges in the kidnapping and killing of his pregnant girlfriend Keishla Rodriguez.
Verdejo — a lightweight contender who represented Puerto Rico at the 2012 Olympic games — abducted Rodríguez, 27, and threw her off a bridge, in San Juan in April 2021, when she plummeted to her death.
Rodríguez’s body was found in a lagoon in the US territory’s capital a few days after she was reported missing.
The 12 jurors could not reach unanimous verdicts on the other two charges against Verdejo, which included carjacking resulting in the death of a person, as well as possession and use of a firearm following the 25-week trial held at the US District Court of Puerto Rico.
Verdejo remained expressionless as the jury’s verdict was read, while Rodríguez’s family hugged and cried, according to local outlet El Nuevo Día.
“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 verdict, per Telemundo Puerto Rico.
“In my mind I thought many things, but not in my heart. I got up every day to come here with the purpose of making her count,” he continued.
“I have always said that he will live the rest of his life thinking about what he did to my daughter, and that is his worst condemnation.”
“I do not wish him death,” he said. “I wish him good health and that he can last as long as he can last. If he wants to last 200 years, let him last, but that he remembers what he did to my daughter, always.”
Verdejo allegedly injected Rodriguez with an unknown liquid and tied her feet and arms to a block during the slaying.
The boxer — who is married and has a young daughter — then allegedly tossed his pregnant lover off a bridge and fired shots from a gun into the water where she was submerged.
Verdejo surrendered to the federal authorities in Puerto Rico in May 2021 to face the charges.
Verdejo’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 3.
He could face a penalty of up to life in prison.
With Post wires
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