BAKERSFIELD — A California man who confessed on TV to killing his pregnant fiance and unborn child has died in a suspected suicide.
Manuel Vela said in a December jailhouse interview with KBAK-TV in Bakersfield that he choked 30-year-old Katrina Rivera to death after an argument outside their home. Rivera was pregnant and the baby could not be saved.
The 28-year-old Vela was found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead Saturday. The official cause of death is pending but detectives believe it was a suicide.
Vela was arrested in December following a police chase.
He told the news station that he was mentally ill. He said during the interview that death would be a fair punishment.
Vela faced domestic violence charges three times before, including earlier in 2016 when he pleaded guilty.
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