Despite the reports that were declaring Carla Mendoza as Jose‘s girlfriend, Maria, 24, wasn’t the one to identify herself as the woman who is actually dating Jose at the time of his tragic death. But some of Maria’s family members revealed her identity to Daily Mail on Sept. 27, sharing several details about Maria and Jose’s relationship as well as her pregnancy — including the baby’s gender and possible name!
“He wanted to name the baby girl Penelope,” said Magaly Junco, who is married to Maria’s cousin and was also once her roommate. “She is due in February and they were living together in his apartment in downtown Miami. They were very excited about having a baby.”
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Jose and Maria began dating in April shortly after he broke off his engagement to Carla, according to her mom and grandma, and Maria became pregnant within weeks of starting their relationship. Although they weren’t together long before they were expecting a child together, Jose expressed his excitement for the “journey” with Maria just days before he died in a tragic boating accident on Sept. 25, sharing a sweet picture of Maria cupping her baby bump.
Because Jose didn’t tag Maria in his Instagram post, fans assumed that the woman in the picture was Carla, as the Miami Marlins pitcher had kept his love life pretty private since he was pictured kissing Carla back in September 2015. Maria declined to comment on Jose and their baby herself, but her family was clearly eager to get the word out that she was the one expecting Jose’s baby, not Carla.
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While it’s unclear what Maria will do once the baby is born now that Jose is gone, she apparently has plenty of family members who are ready to help her out. A lawyer gave HollywoodLife.com some EXCLUSIVE scoop that Jose’s daughter may inherit his entire $6 million estate, but that won’t be clear until they determine Jose’s will situation. We can only imagine how heartbreaking it must be for Maria to think about raising her child without Jose, and our hearts are with her.
HollywoodLifers, do you think Maria will name her daughter Penelope like Jose wanted? Send your love to her as she copes with Jose’s death.