Family relieved over cold case arrest by Phoenix Police Department

PHOENIX - Phoenix Police say detectives solved the cold case murder of a man from 16 months ago.

Tuesday, prosecutors charged 38-year-old Jesus Garcia with first degree murder in connection with the death of Oswaldo Rodriguez on March 3rd, 2011.

Since his surrogate son's murder, Jose Lozano held out hope police would one day catch his killer.

Tuesday afternoon, Lozano's long wait came to an end.

"It's not happiness, it's not satisfaction, it's actually more of a Godsend," said family friend Antonio Aguilar, Jr. who served as an interpreter for Lozano.

Investigators say on March 3rd, 2011, someone robbed the Yereberria San Simone store near 5th Avenue and Hatcher Road.

But police claim the robbers took more than just the cash from the register, they also shot and killed Rodriguez, a store employee.

"He was a hard worker," said Aguilar.  "A great person, a great friend to everyone."

Even though more than a year passed, detectives never stopped working the case.

Thanks to DNA left at the crime scene, investigators recently identified Garcia as the killer.

Tuesday morning, divers recovered a gun from a canal near 19th Avenue and Hatcher police say Garcia may have used in the murder.

"I hope he rots in jail," said Aguilar.

For Lozano, the news won't bring his surrogate son back.

However, it does bring him some comfort knowing the accused killer now sits behind bars.

"The system does work," Aguilar said.  "But the fact of the matter is that his son's still gone."

Garcia is already in custody on unrelated charged. Prosecutors have charged him with armed robbery and first degree murder in connection with Rodriguez' death.