ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty against Jose Antonio Soto-Escalera, who was accused last year of killing a 23-year-old woman and her unborn child, according to recent court filings.

Soto-Escalera, now 42, was arrested Sept. 21 after St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office investigators said they linked him to the death of Tania Wise and her unborn child.

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Wise’s body was found Aug. 24 in a ditch along Russo Road near Johnston Road in northwest St. Lucie County.

In a two-page filing this month, Assistant State Attorney Jeffrey Hendriks said prosecutors intend to prove five “aggravating factors,” including that “the capital felony was a homicide and was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification.”

More: Father of pregnant Port St. Lucie woman's child arrested in their deaths

A 22-page arrest affidavit portrays a complex sheriff’s investigation involving a variety of witnesses and avenues of inquiry. Many portions are redacted.

Witnesses told St. Lucie County sheriff’s investigators Soto-Escalera, of Port St. Lucie, wanted to buy a gun that couldn’t be traced.

A witness also reported Soto-Escalera confided Wise was “blackmailing” Soto-Escalera over Wise’s pregnancy with his child.

Investigators on at least two occasions interviewed Soto-Escalera, who said he’d worked with one of Wise’s former boyfriends. He denied having sex with Wise and gave a DNA sample. However, DNA from the unborn child showed Soto-Escalera was the father, records showed.

More: Tania Wise murder case: Blackmail, abortion and 'ghost gun' referenced in St. Lucie arrest report

A lawyer for Soto-Escalera has said his client maintained his innocence.

“There are some other people that this gal was involved with,” said Leonard Villafranco, Soto-Escalera’s attorney. “Her circle of friends, not a lot of very nice people, and there are some other people that could be looked at for this crime.”

Meanwhile, Soto-Escalera’s lawyer in December asked for a change in venue for the trial, to Brevard County or elsewhere.

Villafranco argued the case has received a lot of news and social media coverage. He also noted the case of Chekingson Sinclair, who in December was sentenced to two life terms after a circuit court jury found him guilty of murdering his wife and her unborn child.

More: Chekingson Sinclair, of Port St. Lucie, found guilty in murder of wife, unborn child

The charges stemmed from the October 2014 fatal shooting of his pregnant 24-year-old wife, Latwassa Argrett, in their Port St. Lucie home.

The lawyer said Soto-Escalera “fears” he can’t get an impartial jury because of media coverage and similarities in the cases.

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