Slain Pregnant Cheerleader, 17, Allegedly Put in Dumpster by Football Player Who Fathered Child
A pregnant Indiana high school cheerleader was found slain in a dumpster — and a football player at her school allegedly confessed he was the unborn child’s father, saying he killed her because it was too late for an abortion.
Breana Rouhselang, 17, who was six months pregnant, was found dead Sunday morning. She was last seen alive at her Mishawaka home the night before, but she left the house at 11 p.m. that night to speak with the baby’s father and never returned, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.
When police searched the area near Breana’s home, they found what they believed were her glasses, a bloody stocking cap and other remnants of blood. This led them to the discovery of Briana’s body in a dumpster behind a nearby business, the affidavit states.
Authorities then interviewed the unborn child’s alleged father, Aaron Trejo, 16, a football player at Mishawaka High School, where Breana was a cheerleader. Trejo initially told police Breana did not show up to their planned meeting. But he later confessed that they’d gotten into a fight about her pregnancy and that he’d stabbed her in the heart with a knife he’d brought from home, the affidavit alleges.
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According to the affidavit, Trejo told police Breana had waited too long to tell him that she was pregnant so an abortion was no longer possible. “I took action, I took her life,” he then told police, the affidavit alleges.
He then allegedly told police he’d been thinking about killing Breana for about a week, and that after fatally stabbing her, he walked to a river and threw Breana’s phone and his knife into it.
Trejo now faces charges of murder and feticide.
Her family told local media that in addition to cheerleading, Breana had been a softball coach and a manager of the football team, Fox59 reports.
“This is such a hard tragedy to accept! This loving young lady was so full of life and didn’t deserve this,” Breana’s stepmother Nicole wrote on a GoFundMe page. “Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers. No one can ever be prepared for a loss like this.”
On Monday, Mishawaka Community Schools Superintendent Dr. A. Dean Speicher called Breana’s death a “tragic loss.”
It is unclear whether Trejo has an attorney.
