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A tragic incident unfolded during what should have been a routine Facebook Marketplace transaction when a teenager allegedly murdered a pregnant woman, attacked her dog, and set her apartment on fire.
On January 24, Eliza Morales, who was five months pregnant, and her husband Gabriel listed their 1994 Ford Ranger pickup truck for sale on Facebook Marketplace. That very day, 19-year-old Nedas Revuckas expressed interest in purchasing the vehicle, according to a legal document titled “People’s Verified Petition to Deny Defendant Pretrial Release,” which was shared with Oxygen by the Downers Grove Police Department.
Nedas traveled to the Morales’ home to finalize the purchase, leaving with the truck while the couple’s license plates remained on the vehicle.
Two days later, arrangements were made through Facebook for Nedas to return to the Morales’ residence. The plan was to hand over the license plates and receive a bill of sale, as outlined in the legal filing.
Security footage obtained from the Morales’ apartment complex, as detailed in the police document, captured Nedas and Eliza meeting in the building’s entryway. The video shows Nedas leaving with a tool handed to him by Eliza, who stayed inside the vestibule.
That footage then showed Nedas—with a tool resembling a screwdriver behind his back—returning and Eliza escorting him inside her apartment unit, with the door closing behind them. The door repeatedly opened and closed and at one point, the two appear in a “struggle,” according to the pretrial release. The door handle was then seen jiggling, as if someone was trying to open it from the inside. The video captured smoke emitting from the apartment unit.
Police also said in the filing that Nedas stabbed the family dog, an elderly 35-pound Pitbull mix named Zula, in between her eyes and confessed to kicking her. During the fire, Zula escaped through a sliding door and is now being cared for at the VCA animal hospital.
Gabriel, who was at work at the time, learned that his apartment was on fire when he received a phone call from his mother, who lives nearby, per the document. Gabriel and Eliza’s 2-year-old daughter was not at home at the time of the attack.
Firefighters found Eliza near the door of her apartment, only realizing she was dead during an ambulance ride.
Nedas was arrested and confessed to murdering Eliza, according to the filing, which also read: “The defendant was upset about the condition of the dark red 1994 Ford Ranger pickup truck that he had purchased and decided to take out his frustration on Eliza.” In the filing, Nedas indicated that he stabbed Eliza 10 times, though an autopsy report cited in the document noted that preliminary, there were 70 stab wounds on her body, mainly to the head and neck. According to the filing, “Two of the stab wounds went through her cheek and into her mouth. One stab wound went through her left ear.”
Eliza also had soot in her airway and vaginal bruising, according to the filing. The majority of the stab wounds came from a knife.
Nedas denied to police that he sexually assaulted Eliza, per the filing, though he mentioned that Eliza had told him she was pregnant during the altercation. He also told police that he started the fire using household chemicals and sanitizer he found in the apartment.
Detectives said that Nedas acknowledged that his actions were “wrong” and that he cried when he was momentarily left alone in the interview room.
The preliminary cause of death is “multiple sharp force injuries,” according to the filing, which also notes: “The preliminary cause of death to Eliza includes intrauterial fetal demise due to multiple sharp force maternal injuries.”
Nedas was handed seven charges, according to a press release sent to Oxygen by the Downers Grove Police Department: First Degree Murder – Intend Death or Great Bodily Harm (Class M), First Degree Murder – Forcible Felony – Armed Robbery (Class M), First Degree Murder – Forcible Felony – Aggravated Arson (Class M), Intentional Homicide of an Unborn Child (Class M), Armed Robbery (Class X), Aggravated Arson (Class X), and Aggravated Cruelty to Animals (Class 4).
“The actions by the defendant … are horrific,” noted the filing, “the level and degree of violence demonstrated by the defendant is not comprehendible.”
Nedas will not enter a plea until his next scheduled court date on Feb. 18, a spokesperson for DuPage County told Oxygen, adding that Nedas will remain in custody pending his trial. A public defender for Nedas did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Oxygen. A spokesperson for Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Oxygen.