A year ago, the family of Keishla Marlen Rodríguez Ortiz, 27, publicly pleaded for her return home. Today they are still waiting for justice to prevail after her tragic death in the middle of an incident of gender violence.
There will be no act of remembrance. What the family has claimed is “space” to try to heal the wounds that have remained after the misfortune that captured the island’s attention, Keishla’s sister, Bereliz Nichole Rodríguez, told the press.
As she acknowledged, her parents “are not well” a year after the death of her sister.
“We do not celebrate her death. Other people celebrate it. We do not. We celebrate her life, “she said on November 6 on the occasion of the young woman’s birthday.
It was on the morning of April 29, 2021, the last time Keishla spoke with her mother, Keila Ortiz, by phone. Thereafter, there was no further contact with the victim.
That same night, the Puerto Rico Police activated the Pink Alert after the family reported the circumstances of her disappearance. Immediately, it transpired that she was pregnant by former boxer Félix “El Diamante” Verdejo, with whom she had a romantic relationship for 11 years.
A day later the boxer went to the police, but kept silent on instructions from his lawyer.
The young woman’s car, a 2016 gray Kia Forte, also appeared on a piece of land in the La Central neighborhood in Canovanas with no trace of her.
After an intense search, Keishla’s lifeless body was found on May 1 in the San José lagoon, near the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge. Immediately, her sister demanded “justice for Keishla”.
A year after the crime, no person has been convicted.
For the crime, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office accused Verdejo and his alleged accomplice, Luis Antonio Cádiz Martínez, on May 6. Since then, they have been kept in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo. They face one charge of carjacking resulting in death; one count of kidnapping resulting in death; and one count of killing an unborn child. In addition, they are charged with using and carrying a firearm during and in connection with a crime of violence.
Immediately, it was classified as a case eligible for the death penalty, because the criminal investigation revealed that each defendant intentionally killed the victim; that each defendant committed the crime in a particularly heinous, cruel, or depraved manner, as it involved severe physical abuse of the victim; and that each defendant committed the crime after substantial planning and premeditation to cause the death of the victim.
However, the United States Department of Justice revealed on January 31 that it will not seek the death penalty in the case against the former boxer and his alleged accomplice for the death of Keishla and his unborn baby.
After he evaded capital punishment and after notifying that he no longer has the money to pay for a lawyer to represent him, the Federal Court provided the former boxer, Félix Verdejo, with a legal representative under the federal Criminal Justice Act (CJA).
Lawyer Jason González Delgado confirmed to the press that he was appointed by the federal forum to assume the representation of the former boxer. For now, both González Delgado and Mr. José Irizarry Pérez, who has served as Verdejo’s lawyer since the beginning of the judicial process, will represent him.
