Boxer sentenced to life in prison for drugging pregnant girl and throwing her off an overpass

Felix Verdejo, a 30-year-old Olympic boxer from Puerto Rico, was sentenced to “two life sentences” for the kidnapping and “gruesome” murders of his girlfriend, who was four weeks pregnant. Keyshla Rodriguez, 27, was drugged and dumped while still alive in a lagoon in San Juan, Puerto Rico in April 2021.

In court, the prosecution said the athlete, who represented the country at the 2012 London Olympics, wanted Keishla to have an abortion. The woman’s mother said her daughter met Verdejo at home to tell him she was pregnant.

The athlete was present in the company of a friend, Luis Antonio Cadiz. According to the prosecution, she got into Verdejo’s car and the boxer hit her in the face and then injected her with an unknown substance. An autopsy later revealed that Keishla had a horse and other animal sedative in her system.

The men then tied her arms and legs with wire and then pinned her to a cement block. She was then thrown from the overpass into the lagoon in broad daylight, around 8:30 am. A friend later anonymously called 911 to report the location of the body, which was found May 1, 2021, two days after Verdejo threw it into the water.

The coroner told the court that Keishla was still alive when she was thrown into the lake. The friend, who cooperated with authorities and pleaded guilty last November, will serve a 30-year prison sentence.

The young woman’s mother, who was in court, did not hide her emotions. “Justice has been served for my daughter and grandson. There were two lives. It was a terrible murder.”

Puerto Rico’s police commissioner, in turn, warned that the verdict should serve as a lesson. “It doesn’t matter the fame, money or power that people think they have. Anyone who breaks the law must answer for it.”