Olympic Boxer Charged With Murdering Pregnant Lover Whose Body Was Found In Lagoon

A Puerto Rican Olympic boxer has been charged with killing his 27-year-old pregnant lover whose body was found in a lagoon, police have said.

Félix Verdejo Sánchez, a lightweight boxer who represented Puerto Rico at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, has been linked to the murder of his lover, Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz, who went missing Friday.

Rodríguez Ortiz's body was found in a lagoon in San Juan Saturday. Puerto Rico's Institute of Forensic Science identified her body through dental records Sunday, reported The New York Times.

Verdejo turned himself in to law enforcement officials later that evening. He was charged with counts of kidnapping and carjacking resulting in death and intentionally killing an unborn child.

Verdejo punched Rodríguez Ortiz in the face and injected her with a syringe filled with "unidentified substances." Afterward, he bound her arms and feet with a wire and tied her body to a block before throwing her off a bridge at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, the criminal complaint filed by the FBI said as per AP News.

The FBI complaint also alleged that Verdejo had contacted a witness who has first-hand knowledge of the incident. The witness reportedly helped Verdejo in tying up Rodríguez Ortiz and loading her into the vehicle that she had driven to meet him. They then drove her to the bridge where Verdejo reportedly shot her using a pistol before tossing her into the water.

When the police initially summoned Verdejo for questioning Friday, he reportedly did not cooperate.

Rodríguez Ortiz's family said she was pregnant with Verdejo's child. She had reportedly told her mother that Verdejo was coming to her house to see the results of her pregnancy test.

"I told her, 'Be careful,' because he had already threatened her," Keila Ortiz, the victim's mother, said. She also claimed that Verdejo had already told her daughter not to have the baby, mentioning his career and family.

Verdejo is married and has a young daughter. He had met Rodríguez Ortiz in middle school and kept in touch with her.

Verdejo is scheduled to appear in court Monday. He has a boxing record of 27-2, with 17 knockouts, according to The New York Times.