Florida Man Sentenced to Death for Brutal Murder of Pregnant Lover Who Gave Away His Abortion Money — “He Googled ‘Dead Body in the Woods’ Hours Before Killing Her”

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FL — A Florida man has been sentenced to death after a jury found him guilty of murdering his pregnant lover and her unborn child in a crime prosecutors described as “cold, deliberate, and fueled by jealousy.”

48-year-old Jose Soto-Escalera was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the 2018 killing of 23-year-old Tania Wise, who was eight months pregnant with a son she had already named Josiah.

“She Played Him”

Prosecutors said Soto-Escalera, who was married at the time, became enraged after Wise gave away $500 he had given her for an abortion. Instead of using the money for the procedure, Wise reportedly gave it to another man — a decision that, according to witnesses, “made him furious.”

Investigators testified that Soto-Escalera began asking around for a “dirty gun”, telling acquaintances he’d been “played.”

Days later, Wise was found dead on a rural road in Fort Pierce. Her head had been bashed in and her throat cut, injuries prosecutors said were each “independently fatal.”

DNA tests later confirmed that Soto-Escalera was the baby’s father.

“Dead Body in the Woods”

Detectives built their case using cellphone data and internet searches from Soto-Escalera’s phone. The day before Wise’s body was discovered, he had Googled:

• “Dead body in woods”
• “Wooded area dead body”

Those searches, paired with location data placing him at the crime scene, helped seal the prosecution’s case.

The Death Sentence

During the penalty phase, Soto-Escalera’s defense attorneys asked for life in prison without parole, arguing that he’d endured a traumatic childhood and had been a model inmate since his arrest.

But the judge ultimately agreed with the jury’s recommendation — 8 jurors in favor of death, 4 against — concluding that the aggravating factors outweighed any mitigating circumstances.

“The brutality of this murder, and the taking of two lives — one not yet born — merits the ultimate punishment,” the judge said.

Soto-Escalera will now join the ranks of Florida’s death-row inmates, awaiting execution by lethal injection at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford.

A Life Cut Short

Wise’s friends described her as “bright, funny, and fiercely independent.” In social media posts before her death, she shared excitement about becoming a mother.

“She had already picked a name for her baby boy,” one family member told reporters. “All she wanted was a peaceful life. She didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

Do you think the death penalty was the right outcome in this case? Join the discussion in the comments on FatCityFeed.com.