Felix Verdejo-Sánchez punched Keishla Ortiz in the face, injected her with drugs, bound her hands and feet with wire, and then tossed her off a bridge, according to the probable cause affidavit.
A former Olympian will spend the rest of his life in a federal prison for kidnapping his pregnant girlfriend and then tossing her off a bridge while tied to a cement block.
That sentence comes three months after a jury found Félix Verdejo-Sánchez, 30, guilty of federal charges tied to the murder of his then-girlfriend Keishla M. Rodríguez Ortiz and their unborn child.
Verdejo-Sánchez, who competed for Puerto Rico in the 2012 London Summer Olympics, had entered a plea of not guilty to both charges of kidnapping resulting in death and intentionally killing an unborn child.
Ortiz and her unborn child were killed on Apr. 29, 2021 according to the probable cause affidavit.
On that night, Verdejo-Sánchez contacted Ortiz and arranged to meet her near her home in San Juan, according to the affidavit.
Verdejo-Sánchez then asked Ortiz to join him inside his Dodge Durango where his accomplice, Luis Cádiz Martínez, was lying in wait.
Once inside the vehicle, Verdejo-Sánchez punched Ortiz in the face and injected her with drugs, according to the affidavit.
He and Martinez then bound her hands and feet with metal wire and attached her body to a cement block, according to the affidavit.
To finish off the brutal murder, Verdejo-Sánchez drove to a nearby bridge with Martinez following in the victim's car, according to the affidavit.
"Verdejo-Sánchez and [Martinez] then drove onto the bridge, where the victim was removed from the vehicle and tossed off the side of the bridge and into the water," says the affidavit. "Verdejo-Sánchez shot at the victim with a pistol from the bridge."
It would only take two days for law enforcement to find the body of Ortiz, and by May 2 there was a warrant for the arrest of Verdejo-Sánchez after his accomplice detailed the boxer's plot to an FBI agent.
“In cases such as this one, regardless of the outcome, there is no way to restore what has been lost,” Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Juan field office, said after the sentencing this week. “The only salve we can offer victim’s families is to do our work zealously and without rest, until justice is served. I believe we have done that here and I pray that this will give Keishla’s family some peace."
W. Stephen Muldrow, the United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, noted that Verdejo-Sánchez has yet to show remorse for his actions.
“Today’s life sentence rightly holds Verdejo-Sánchez responsible for the pain and suffering he inflicted on his victims,” said Muldrow. “To this day, the defendant maintains his unrepentant attitude. Like Verdejo-Sánchez now knows, anyone who commits cold-blooded crimes of violence in violation of federal law will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by the Justice Department and this office.”
A lawyer for Verdejo-Sánchez did not respond to a request for comment.
