SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo held without bail after he was charged in the death of his 27-year-old pregnant lover whose body was found in a lagoon.
Verdejo is charged with kidnapping and carjacking resulting in the death of Keishla Rodríguez and with intentionally killing an unborn child.
According to a federal complaint obtained by The New York Times and The Washington Post, Verdejo is accused of punching Rodríguez, injecting the woman with “substances,” tying her body to a block and throwing her from a bridge into the water.
Rodríguez was reported missing Thursday. In a missing person’s report, officials said the woman had last spoken to her mother that morning.
Authorities announces Sunday that they were able to identify Rodríguez’s body through dental records. An autopsy was performed, but the results have not yet been publicly released.
Verdejo turned himself in to authorities on the island Sunday, The Times and The Post report.
Verdejo did not make any comments during Monday’s virtual hearing in which he relied on a translator.
The U.S. government has 30 days to present the case to a federal grand jury.
Verdejo represented Puerto Rico at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He competes as a lightweight boxer.