Special thanks
to our supporters

  • NewsMatch
  • John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
  • Ida B. Wells
  • Newton B & Sunny Link Ashby
  • KXCI Community Radio
  • Stephen Golden & Susan Tarrence
  • Renee Downing
  • Margaret Fuller
  • Karin Uhlich
  • Anonymous
  • Beverly Werber
  • & many more!

We rely on readers like you. Join them & contribute to the Sentinel today!

Hosting provider

Proud member of

Local Independent Online News Publishers Authentically Local Local First Arizona Institute for Nonprofit News
 <  1 2 3 4 5 6 >
An altar for Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, a 16-year-old boy killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent, during a vigil in October 2017.

A witness appeared to refute her own previous testimony Thursday as defense lawyers began to make their case for Lonnie Ray Swartz, the Border Patrol agent accused of murder in the shooting death a Mexican teenager in 2012. Read more»

The site where Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez was shot, viewed from the United States.

An expert in forensic pathology testified that 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez was on the ground and severely wounded when Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz — on trial for murder — fired a .40-caliber bullet into the right side of his head through the border fence in Nogales in 2012. Read more»

Lonnie Swartz, the agent accused of unlawfully killing 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in October 2012.

An ex-Border Patrol firearms instructor said shooting an unarmed person in the back was "unjustified," and that Agent Lonnie Swartz — on trial for murder — should have sought cover rather than firing three salvos of gunfire into Mexico, killing 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in 2012. Read more»

Lonnie Swartz, the Border Patrol agent accused of unlawfully killing a Mexican teenager, heads to federal court in Tucson.

A 3D reconstruction shows that Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, the 16-year-old Mexican teenager shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent more than five years ago, may have fled more than 16 feet before he collapsed over a curb, and was hit by two volleys of gunfire. Read more»

An altar at the spot where Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez died in October 2012.

An expert in blood spatter testified Wednesday that Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez was on the ground and still moving when he was hit by a volley of .40-caliber rounds from a Border Patrol agent's pistol. Read more»

Lonnie Swartz, the Border Patrol agent accused of unlawfully killing a 16-year-old Mexican teenager in 2012, entering the federal courthouse in Tucson.

Four additional witnesses described their recollections of the events surrounding the killing of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, 16, who was shot to death by Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz in Nogales more than five years ago. Read more»

The altar of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, 16, who was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in 2012.

The testimony of two key witnesses in court Thursday provided further details into the actions of a Border Patrol agent accused of murder in the death of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez during a cross-border shooting in Nogales more than five years ago. Read more»

The altar of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, 16, who was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in 2012.

Federal prosecutors argued that Lonnie Ray Swartz, the agent on trial for murder in the death of a Mexican teenager during a 2012 cross-border shooting, "calmly and deliberately" walked up the fence and shot his pistol, firing 16 rounds in 34 seconds. Read more»

An altar for 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, a Nogales-area teen who was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent in a cross-border incident in 2012.

Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz will face trial for second-degree murder, charged with unlawfully killing a Mexican teenager during a 2012 cross-border shooting in Nogales. A jury was chosen Tuesday in the case. Read more»

A photograph of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, killed by Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz, during a cross-border shooting in October 2012.

A federal judge will allow defense lawyers to present evidence that a Mexican teenager, shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent in 2012, may have climbed the bollard fence that separates the U.S. and Mexico, leaving rust stains on his shoes. Read more»

An altar in Nogales, Sonora for Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, a 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz in October 2012.

Lonnie Swartz, the Border Patrol agent accused of unlawfully killing a Mexican teenager, cannot be cross-examined about his military record, including his arrest for desertion, a federal judge ruled. Read more»

An altar for 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, a Nogales-area teen who was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent in a cross-border incident in 2012.

U.S. Attorneys in Arizona will continue prosecuting the case against Lonnie Swartz, the Border Patrol agent accused of unlawfully killing a Mexican teenager during a 2012 cross-border shooting, after a federal judge rejected a motion that argued federal officials withheld evidence. Read more»

A Border Patrol agent ropes down from a Black Hawk helicopter during a demonstration in 2016.

A Mexican man was sentenced to more than 8 years in prison Wednesday by a federal judge in Tucson, after he admitted he was working as armed lookout for drug smugglers. Read more»

Cousins of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, a Mexican teenager killed in a cross-border shooting by a U.S. Border Patrol agent, light candles in front of his portrait.

Five years after the cross-border shooting death of 16-year old Jose Antonio Rodriguez, his family is tired and frustrated after delays that have kept the trial of Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz from beginning until at least March 2018. Read more»

The spot where 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez died in Nogales, Sonora seen through the U.S.-Mexico border.

The trial of Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz, accused of unlawfully killing a Mexican teenager during a 2012 cross-border shooting, has been rescheduled as attorneys wrestle over the handling of the autopsy and notes that describe how the 16-year-old died. Read more»

 <  1 2 3 4 5 6 >