Indiana teen pleads guilty to murdering girlfriend because she told him about pregnancy when it was too late to abort
MISHAWAKA, INDIANA: A 16-year-old teenager from Indiana was charged with the murder of his pregnant 17-year-old cheerleader girlfriend because she was too far into the pregnancy to get an abortion.
On Wednesday, October 30, Aaron Trejo pleaded guilty to murdering Breana Rouhselang as part of a deal though he is still facing 80 years in prison after he waived the right to a trial in front of a jury.
He will be sentenced in January 2020 after an affidavit stated that "he had been planning and thinking about killing Breana and the unborn baby for about a week and had not told anybody".
As reported by Fox, Trejo stabbed Breana in the heart and placed her in a garbage bag. He then disposed of the body behind a dumpster and tossed her phone and the weapon into a river. Last December, Trejo had attended a preliminary not guilty plea to a murder charge.
Trejo was tried as an adult since the US Supreme Court ruled that those under 18 cannot have capital punishment imposed upon them in 2005. His maternal aunt, Alexzaundra Patton-Manu, told the Daily Beast, "This is not him. This is not his character."
The aunt added how no one in the family was aware of Trejo's relationship and his parents had no idea that Breana was expecting a baby.
"They’re a loving family. All of us go to church. We’re all God-fearing people. We just want everybody to stop trying to harass everybody in our family. We didn’t do nothing wrong," Patton-Manu shared.
Breana was last seen alive when she told her biological mother that she was going to meet Trejo behind their house at around 11 pm. She never returned home after that. When Detective Gery Mullins asked Trejo about the crimes, he admitted he had done it.
He also revealed that Breana had waited way too long to tell him that she was pregnant by which time getting an abortion was not possible. "I took action... I took her life," Trejo told Mullins.
"Aaron explained that he stabbed Breana in the heart with a knife he brought from home. Aaron chose to use a knife because he thought it would kill Breana quickly. Aaron stated that he put the black plastic bag over Breana, which he had brought from home for that purpose," Mullins shared.
"Aaron Trejo said that he had been planning and thinking about killing Breana and the baby for about a week and had not told anybody. Aaron Trejo said that after he put Breana's body in the dumpster, he walked to the river and threw Breana's phone and his knife as far out into the river as he could," Mullins added.