A teen stabbed his pregnant girlfriend after refusing abortion, he was found guilty of the charges and later on sentenced to 65 years in prison.
Aaron Trejo, 18, was sentenced to 55 years of life in prison for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend Breana Rouhselang, 17, and 10 years for feticide in the death of their unborn daughter, Ruby, in December 2018 in Mishawaka, Indiana when he was just 16 years old.
St. Joseph County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hurley remarked on the brutal death of the pregnant high school girl, who was stabbed in the chest, strangled, and dumped in the trash.
“You took her life in one of the most savage and violent manners I have seen in my career,” Judge Hurley said in delivering her verdict.
Trejo pleaded guilty last October to killing Rouhselang in December 2018 because he was so angry that his six-month pregnant cheerleader girlfriend waited too long to get an abortion.
In the court, the convicted murderer apologized to the victim’s family saying: “There is no excuse for what I’ve done, saying I’m sorry wouldn’t be enough, but it’s all I can give.”
Rouhselang’s family delivered an emotional statement and asked the judge to imprison Trejo for life.
Trejo’s defense lawyer called on a forensic psychologist to prove that the then 16-year-old high school student felt “trapped” and was struggling from suppressed resentment and anger.
After the murder in December 2018, Trejo told the cops that he planned the murder for a week.
The body of Rouhselang, a member of the cheer squad and football team manager at Mishawaka High School, was discovered by authorities in a dumpster behind Pasquale Rulli Pizza, just a block away from where she lived with her biological mother.
Rouhselang’s biological mother last saw her alive when the teen said she was going to meet the father of her baby behind their house at 11 PM. She never came back.
Detective Gery Mullins detailed the conversation of the couple which happened after the teenage pair had a fight.
“I then asked Aaron if the fight was about the pregnancy,” Mullins said.
“Aaron Trejo quietly said, “Yes.” Aaron then explained that Breana waited too long to tell Aaron about the pregnancy to get an abortion. I asked Aaron what he did about that, and he replied, “I took action… I took her life.”
“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.”
“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.”
An autopsy confirmed that Rouhselang died from multiple stab wounds and that her scarf had been tied so tightly that strangulation was occurring before she passed away.
Mellisa Wallace, Rouhselang’s mother told WNDU: “I’m glad we got justice for Bre, but no amount of time will ever replace what he took from me.”
Breana’s family will start an annual Domestic Violence Walk to raise awareness for what their daughter went through.
The Family Justice Center estimates that one in four women “experience domestic violence” and that those numbers “are similar” for young people too.