Jury Gets Case Of Border Patrol Agent Charged With Murder

TUCSON, AZ – The case of the border agent charged with second degree murder for killing a teenager across the border with Mexico, is int he hands of the jury. The trial of Lonnie Swartz in federal court in Tucson began March 20.

It was the night of October 10, 2012 when Swartz started firing through the 20-foot wall that separated a section of Nogales, Arizona from Nogales in the state of Sonora in Mexico.

He struck and killed 16-year-old Elena Rodriguez who was on the street in Mexican Nogales.

While Swartz's lawyers have argued that Rodriguez was throwing rocks at the agents to create a distraction so drug smugglers, prosecutors say that it doesn't matter. What does matter, they say, is that Swartz used an unreasonable amount of force. (Get Tucson Patch's daily newsletter and real-time news alerts. Or, find your local Patch here and subscribe).

The investigation showed that Rodriguez was unarmed. An autopsy showed that Rodriguez had been shot 10 times, mostly as he faced away from where Swartz was.

The jury got the case late Monday and will resume deliberations on Tuesday morning.

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