Politics & Government
Trial Of Border Agent Charged With Killing Mexican Teen Begins
Agent Lonnie Swartz allegedly killed 16-year-old Elena Rodriguez by firing across the border into Mexico. On Tuesday, his trial starts

TUCSON, AZ – The trial of the border agent accused of killing a Mexican teen by firing across the border begins Tuesday in federal court in Tucson. Lonnie Swartz is charged with second degree murder.
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.
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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.
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.
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The trial is expected to last about a month.
Image via ShutterStock.
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