Border Patrol Agent Indicted in Shooting Death of 16-Year-Old Boy

By Kenrya Rankin Sep 25, 2015

On October 10, 2012, U.S. Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz shot and killed Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, a 16-year-old who was walking home from a basketball game in Nogales, Sonora in Mexico. Swartz was in Nogales, Arizona, when he fired his gun through the border fence and hit Elena Rodriguez ten times. On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted Swartz on a second-degree murder charge.

“The Elena Rodriguez Family is grateful to the DOJ for this first step in the pursuit of justice, and remain steadfast in their resolve to seek full transparency from the U.S. Border Patrol on behalf of Jose Antonio,” the family’s attorney, Luis Parra, told the Associated Press

Swartz will be arraigned on October 9, and his attorney, Sean Chapman, told the Arizona Daily Star that his client will plead not guilty. “He will fight the charge. I expect this case will go to trial,” Chapman said.

There is also a federal civil rights lawsuit pending against Swartz, which is being facilitated by the ACLU.

(H/t Associated Press/U.S. News and World Report, Arizona Daily Star