Teen sentenced to 65 years in prison for murdering pregnant girlfriend, unborn baby
An Indiana teenager has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for murdering his pregnant girlfriend because she waited too long to get an abortion.
Aaron Trejo, 18, was sentenced Tuesday in St. Joseph County Superior Court for the December 2018 murder of his then 17-year-old girlfriend, Brena Rouhselang.
Trejo received 55 years for the murder of Rouhselang and 10 years for the murder of their unborn child. He also received a “year of credit” for time already served, according to CNN Wire.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
According to authorities, in 2018 Rouhselang, a cheerleader at Mishawaka High School, told Trejo, then 16 and a member of the football team, that she was six months pregnant.
Trejo was believed to be the father of the child. While neither reportedly wanted to have the child, Rouhselang did not seek to get an abortion earlier in her pregnancy.
Indiana state law prohibits late term abortions unless they are deemed by a physician to be medically necessary to save the life of a mother.
Trejo stabbed Rouhselang to death, throwing her body in a dumpster and tossing her phone and the murder weapon into a river, according to court papers.
“I took action,” said Trejo in an affidavit, as reported by CNN. He had also said that he had planned the murder about a week in advance. “I took her life.”
On Dec. 9, 2018, Trejo was arrested for the crime and the following day he was charged with one count of murder and one count of feticide, which is a third-degree felony.
“Probable cause was found. Defendant was ordered held without bond,” the St. Joseph’s Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release announcing the charges.
Last October, Trejo pleaded guilty to the murder of Rouhselang and their unborn baby, reversing an earlier plea. He initially faced up to 80 years in prison.
“It doesn't matter how much time someone is given, the loss is never going to be replaced,” said Mishawaka Police Lt. Tim Williams in a statement last October, NBC News reported.
