ODESSA, Texas — "I am proud, sad but proud, to announce that we have secured a warrant for the person we believe is responsible for the murder of Brandon Swinney.”
This was the opening statement made by Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke at a press conference today confirming that Odessa Police Department had secured a warrant for the arrest of 55-year-old Roman Aguilar Alvarado.
According to an arrest affidavit, Alvarado is currently locked up in the Federal Correctional Institution Cumberland in Maryland.
Now, he is the person OPD believe pulled the trigger of the gun that killed Brandon Swinney.
“Brandon had just arrived home with his young son from baseball practice. When Brandon got out of his truck, he went to the side of the entrance of his house and his son towards the front," Chief Gerke said. "What Brandon did not know was that a man was waiting in the shadows next to his house. When Brandon approached, the man committed the cold and cowardly act of sitting right in front of his.”
According to an arrest affidavit, Alvarado had tried to confront Swinney at his house about an affair, but wasn’t able to contact him.
According to the affidavit, surveillance footage from the crime scene shows a man, believed to be Alvarado, walking around with a gun, implying the shooter had been waiting for at least an hour.
However, the case then went cold and while Alvarado was always linked to the crime, OPD couldn’t officially charge him with the crime.
Four years later, advances in forensic science and analytic technology helped OPD finally pin him down.
“I will say that that he was a suspect for some time," Gerke said. "Then new evidence came and we were able to obtain new evidence using some new forensic techniques.”
As for the family who waited every day for an answer, they finally get what they’ve been hoping for.
“Now, it's finally solved... when they finally got it solved, I broke down,” Kai Sweeney, the son of Brandon Sweeney.
While forgiveness may be tough, or even impossible to feel, the Swinney family can sleep at night knowing that justice can finally be served.
“I will never forgive him for this act. It pains me for everything that has happened to me, my family, my papa. I hope justice will be served," Swinney said. "I hope he will do a bunch of time. I hope he spends the rest of his time in federal prison for what he has done to me and my family.”