By Carlos Gonzalez
PUERTO RICO – In the midst of the tumult over the discovery of the lifeless body of the young Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz days after her disappearance on April 29, 2021, which caused the ex-boxer Félix Verdejo to turn himself in to the authorities, her then partner was subjected to mockery and even threats on social media.
Eliz Santiago Sierra explained that the harassment and accusations forced her to seek legal advice.
Santiago Sierra knew Keishla and her sister Bereliz Rodríguez because they grew up together in the Manuel A. Pérez residence, where Verdejo also spent a few years.
It was not until 2012 that Santiago Sierra and Verdejo began a formal relationship as couples. However, she knew from the beginning of Verdejo’s infidelities with Keishla and other women.
“When I was interviewed by the police officers on April 30, I said that I was tired of his infidelities. That there were other women besides Keishla, but that he always ended up with her,” said the young woman during the ninth day of the trial that is taking place in the Federal Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
To questions from defense attorney Gabriela Cintrón Colón, Santiago Sierra acknowledged that Verdejo’s actions caused her discomfort, but also that the defendant was never physically or verbally aggressive with her.
“He was never violent with me in the 10 years of relationship. Nor controller. He was not aggressive, just a womanizer, ”he maintained.
Carlos Colón Vilches, security manager of the JetBlue airline, confirmed to questions from the Public Ministry that Marcelino Pérez boarded a plane in New York to travel to Puerto Rico on April 29, 2021.
In addition, Colón Vilches revealed that the individual made the flight reservation four days before.
Pérez was one of the first people that Keila Ortiz called when her daughter Keishla Rodríguez was reported missing, precisely, on April 29, 2021. Pérez and Rodríguez were married in 2012 when she was 19 years old.
Between 2013 and 2018, Pérez served a sentence in a jail. To date, the reasons have not been specified during the trial against Verdejo. Junior “Macho” Zavala, husband of Keishla’s sister, confirmed that Pérez arrived at the General Headquarters from the airport in San Juan.
“When he arrived, he said that he felt tired from the trip, that it was unnecessary for them to call him, and he used the phrase ‘he who hasn’t been suspected has no suspicion.’ He wanted to know why they wanted him there,” Zavala said.
The intention of the Public Ministry to summon Colón Vilches served to corroborate the versions offered in court.
Keep reading:
Puerto Rican ex-boxer Félix Verdejo sold kilos of cocaine with the brother of a co-defendant in the case for the murder of Keishla Rodríguez
Félix Verdejo’s ex-wife says that she tolerated his constant infidelities out of habit; she reveals that she knew of treason with Keishla Rodríguez Ortiz
Revealing text messages between former boxer Félix Verdejo and alleged partner in the murder of Keishla Rodríguez in Puerto Rico