He pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and involuntary manslaughter charges last week in connection to the death of 30-year-old Darnell Pate Jr. on Jan. 29.
Swindle was the getaway driver in a shooting at Napoleon’s Bar, at 4150 Germantown Pike, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. He also reportedly committed a separate armed robbery on the same day.
Deputies responded to the bar around 2:50 a.m. and found Pate dead with apparent gunshot wounds inside a vehicle. The sheriff’s office described the incident as a targeted killing.
Detectives believed a stolen car found abandoned in the area was used by those responsible in Pate’s death.
Pate was working as a security guard at the bar and had been leaving after his shift ended. He previously worked in law enforcement for multiple different departments in Southwest Ohio
Pate and his young daughter garnered attention when he brought her to the funeral in November 2019 for slain Dayton police detective Jorge DelRio. Pate was a police officer for the city of Union at the time.
“She absolutely adores what I do and constantly tells people about it,” Pate said more than five years ago. “I talked to her about the officer passing away and asked if she wanted to go with Daddy to say goodbye. What better way to show her what my blue family is like?”
Swindle’s co-defendant, Sha’king Jones, was indicted on two counts each of murder and felonious assault and one count each of aggravated robbery and having weapons under disability in Pate’s death.
Jones’ case is still waiting to go to trial.
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