Who is Luis Antonio Cadiz-Martinez? Felix Verdejo and accomplice indicted by DOJ for Keishla Rodriguez’s murder
Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday, May 6, in the alleged carjacking, kidnapping and killing of his pregnant lover, Keishla Marlen Rodríguez Ortiz, in a case that has sparked an uproar against the scourge of violence against women in Puerto Rico.
Meanwhile, the grand jury also indicted Luis Antonio Cádiz-Martínez, Verdejo's alleged accomplice who is said to have assisted the 27-year-old boxer in luring Keishla to her death during the early hours of April 29 in exchange for some form of compensation.
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According to NPR, Cádiz provided investigators several details surrounding Rodríguez's killing after he was cited in the federal complaint against Verdejo as a previously unnamed witness cooperating with the FBI.
According to NotiCentro, a local news outlet, Rodríguez's death was the 18th femicide on the island since the start of 2021. The indictments against Verdejo and Cádiz came on the same day as Rodríguez' wake, which was attended by dozens of mourners from across Puerto Rico who were outraged by the latest death of a woman at the hands of a current or former partner.
The indictments on Thursday were in addition to charges Verdejo was already facing, including carjacking resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death and killing an unborn child. Now, he also faces counts of using and carrying a firearm during the crime.
Who is Luis Antonio Cádiz-Martínez?
Verdejo and Cádiz allegedly discussed ways to convince Rodríguez to agree to meet near her home, according to a complaint filed in court on Monday, May 3. It alleges that Verdejo forced the pregnant woman into his car. The victim's parents revealed how the two had known each other for about 11 or 12 years, went to school together, and had been in a relationship for quite some time.
The professional boxer, who has had at least a dozen knockout wins in his career, proceeded to punch Rodríguez in the face after she entered the vehicle. He then injected her with an unspecified drug, per court documents. Cádiz allegedly helped Verdejo restrain the pregnant woman, tying her arms and feet together with a wire and attaching her body to a heavy block.
Verdejo then pulled out a pistol and shot Rodríguez, before throwing her body into the waters below the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge in San Juan, investigators said. After dumping Rodríguez' body, Cádiz helped Verdejo to try to get rid of her car, according to the US District Attorney of Puerto Rico.
A judge ordered Cádiz during a Thursday afternoon hearing to be held without bail until his arraignment on May 11. Similarly, Verdejo, who turned himself in after authorities pulled Rodríguez's body out of a nearby lagoon, was denied bail on Monday.
Both have been charged with kidnapping resulting in death, carjacking resulting in death, and intentionally killing an unborn child. Each charge carries with it a life sentence or the death penalty.
"Each defendant committed the offense in an especially cruel, heinous, or depraved manner," the indictment notes, adding that "substantial planning and premeditation" went into Rodríguez's killing.
When Rodríguez was reported missing by her family, she was reportedly supposed to be at work early at a pet salon in San Juan. Before the tragic news of her death was confirmed, the business called Pet Salon PR announced it was canceling all services as the staff was distressed about what may have happened to her.
Rodríguez's mother Keila Ortiz was surrounded by her family during a press conference at the young woman's wake. She repeatedly urged women to speak up if they were in potentially dangerous relationships or targets of violence.
On the other hand, the victim's father José Antonio Rodríguez told reporters on Wednesday, May 5, that he wasn't in favor of the death penalty for his daughter's alleged killer.
“I don't believe in that because if you give a person who did what he did the death penalty, you are helping him. It is better to throw 100 years on him and for him to keep that conscience on his mind every day," the grieving father said through tears. "May he pay for it every day of his life and may he remember everything he did to my daughter. Because if one takes his life, he does not suffer, he will not suffer... I don't want the death penalty for him. If they ask me, no, no," he added.