Mishawaka teen pleads guilty in murder of classmate who was pregnant
Vic RyckaertA Mishawaka teen pleaded guilty Wednesday in the stabbing and strangulation death of a pregnant high school classmate.
Aaron R. Trejo, 17, pleaded guilty to murder and feticide during a hearing before St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Cardwell Hurley, said Jessica McBrier, spokeswoman for the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office.
A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Jan. 7.
Trejo was 16 when prosecutors say he stabbed 17-year-old Breana Rouhselang to death and dumped her body in a trash bin on Dec. 8, 2018.
Both were students at Mishawaka High School. The northern Indiana city is about 150 miles north of Indianapolis.
Prosecutors charged Trejo with murder and feticide on Dec. 9, 2018.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Trejo told police that he knew Rouhselang was pregnant and he was "supposed to be the father of the baby," but neither he nor Rouhselang wanted to have the baby. He later confessed to killing Rouhselang over the pregnancy, the affidavit said.
"I took action....I took her life," Trejo reportedly told police, according to court documents.
Police found Rouhselang's body on Dec. 9, 2018, in a trash container behind a restaurant near her home.
An autopsy found that Rouhselang died from multiple stab wounds, and that a scarf she had been wearing at the time was tied so tightly that she was being strangled before she died, according to the affidavit.
IndyStar left a message with Trejo's attorney seeking comment.
Contact IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert at 317-444-2701 or vic.ryckaert@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.