Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Santiago, a 5th Special Forces Group soldier based out of Fort Campbell, Ky., will serve a life sentence in prison after being convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and harming the couple’s unborn child, according to 1st Special Forces Command. (U.S. Army)

A 5th Special Forces Group soldier based out of Fort Campbell, Ky., will serve a life sentence in prison after being convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and harming the couple’s unborn child.

Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Santiago, a signal support specialist, was found guilty by a military court trial of killing his wife, Meghan Santiago, 33, in 2021, according to 1st Special Forces Command. His life sentence includes the possibility of parole and he will serve an additional six months for injuring his baby.

Santiago hit his wife in the face and chest at their on-base home on Sept. 16, 2021. His wife died of blunt force trauma to the head less than two weeks later at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., according to authorities.

The baby was born in stable condition, according to court documents and the Army. Santiago was arrested a day later and the couple’s three children were placed into the custody of child protection services in Kentucky.

Santiago enlisted in the Army in 2007 and had pleaded not guilty before standing trial. He expressed remorse at his sentencing at Fort Campbell on Wednesday.

“I am sorry about my wife," Santiago said, according to The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper. "I am so sorry and I hope she can forgive me. I wish we could have raised our kids together. … I honored to love her and I did not live to that promise. To my children, I am sorry for everything."

A 1st Special Forces Command spokesperson said Thursday that Santiago was reduced in rank to private and has been dishonorably discharged.