Retrial Begins for Border Agent Who Fatally Shot Rock-Throwing Mexican Teen
The retrial of Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz—who in 2012 shot and killed 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodríguez—has begun in Tucson's federal court.
The retrial of Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz—who in 2012 shot and killed 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodríguez—has begun in Tucson's federal court.
On the night of the shooting, Border Patrol agents and Nogales police officers had responded to a call of two people seen jumping the border fence in possession of two bundles of marijuana.
As the two tried to flee back to Mexico, others starting pelting the agents and officers with rocks from the Mexican side—a practice sometimes referred to as "rocking," according to the Arizona Daily Star.
Swartz is being tried on a charge of voluntary manslaughter. The jury consists of 10 women and six men, including four alternates.
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