S3 EP03: A historic legal showdown

In a historic move, U.S. federal prosecutors charged Lonnie Swartz, a Border Patrol agent, with three separate charges in the shooting and killing of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez. 

The most severe of the charges was for second degree murder, that meant prosecutors believed Lonnie had intentionally killed Jose Antonio. It was now their responsibility to prove that in court. 

Bringing Swartz to trial took more than six years. In March 2018, the month-long murder trial kicked off in Tucson, about 60 miles north of Ambos Nogales. 

A jury of 12 men and women - plus four alternates - would decide if Swartz was guilty of the three charges against him and could bring an end to Jose Antonio's family journey toward justice. 

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