Who was Esteban de Jesus? Felix Verdejo's arrest reminds Puerto Ricans of another boxing champ's violent crimes
Former boxing champion Félix 'El Diamante' Verdejo is currently facing charges for murdering his pregnant girlfriend, 27-year-old Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz. Brutal details of the chilling murder continue to shock the world. Verdejo punched her, fracturing her jaw, and injected her with drugs, before throwing her alive from the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge into a lagoon, tied up with blocks.
Puerto Rican publication El Nuevo Día pointed out how the act of violence is reminiscent of the case of late former world champion Esteban de Jesús.
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Who was Esteban de Jesús?
The boxer was the first Puerto Rican to defeat Roberto Durán as a pro, and the only fighter to defeat Duran during his lightweight reign; Esteban de Jesús was somewhat of a force to reckon with. But it was reported that his career was mired in controversies and scandals. One such taking place in 1980 - from which de Jesús would never recover.
What happened on November 27, 1980?
After having injected himself with cocaine, de Jesús got involved in a traffic dispute with 17-year-old Roberto Cintron Gonzalez. It ended in de Jesús fatally shooting Gonzalez in the head. The case would go on to become one of the most famous cases in Puerto Rico. De Jesús was tried for first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
In prison, where he went on to excel in baseball, making the Puerto Rico penal system all-star team three times, he also turned to religion and gave sermons daily to fellow prisoners.
HIV AIDS
Five years later, he learned that his brother Enrique, with whom he had shared needles, had died of AIDS. Soon it was reported that de Jesús had also tested positive for the virus, and soon symptoms began to appear. ''I'm waiting to see what's to be God's will,'' he reportedly said in a television interview on February 12, 1989, according to New York Times 1989 obituary of the boxer. ''I'm in God's hands.''
Eventually, his sentence was commuted by then Governor Rafael Hernández Colón. But he would die less than two months later.
Similarities with Félix 'El Diamante' Verdejo
Decades later, Puerto Rico is witness to a violent crime perpetrated by a celebrated boxer against an innocent.
According to the latest local reports, Verdejo has been charged with kidnapping resulting in death, carjacking resulting in death, and intentionally killing an unborn child.
Coach Víctor Montañez reportedly told El Nuevo Día, "Esteban was involved in things of substances and when the athletes come to that they have no reasoning. They lose track of what they are doing and it is only after they make a serious mistake that they realize it."
While noting that no one can tell for sure what led Esteban to shoot a fellow driver dead, the coach said that Verdejo's case might take a similar route as the former seems guilty. "I don't know what would lead Verdejo to think of doing an atrocity like the one he is accused of," he said.