A South Fulton County man was arrested this week in the slaying of a Massachusetts teenager 30 years ago.
Rodney Daniels, 48, was taken into custody Monday on a murder indictment in Malden, Massachusetts, in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Patricia Moreno on July 20, 1991.
The girl was found dead just after 3 a.m. from a single gunshot wound to the head just outside the third-floor apartment where she had been living with a foster family, according to a news release from the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
A police investigation determined that Daniels, who was then 18, was present at the time of the shooting, along with the victim’s foster mother, and her two teenage daughters, including Patricia, whom Daniels was dating.
Police were called and arrived to find Patricia mortally wounded on the landing of the third-floor fire escape.
She was rushed to the hospital but died later the same day.
Investigators interviewed the residents of the apartment, who said they heard gunshots but never saw the suspect. Daniels, who was spending the night with the family, claimed he was asleep in the living room. He told police that he was awakened by the gunfire and that he walked onto the fire escape and found the victim.
The murder weapon was never recovered.
Detectives later learned that Daniels had possessed several handguns around the time of the shooting, and that he had threatened the girl in the weeks leading up to her death.
Despite their suspicions, police never had enough evidence to make an arrest and the case went cold.
The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office reopened the investigation in 2020, when detectives conducted ballistics tests and determined the fatal shot had been fired down into the stairwell by someone standing near the doorway of the apartment.
As the investigation unfolded, police were able to track down a witness who lived on the second floor of the apartment building at the time but had since moved out of the country. The witness provided a description of a male suspect who looked like Daniels and who was observed ducking back into the third-floor apartment after the shots were fired.
Based on the new information, the Malden District Court issued a murder warrant for Daniels.
Police caught up to the suspect Monday in South Fulton County and placed him under arrest. He was due to be extradited to Massachusetts for arraignment in the case.
“After three decades we have taken the first steps today to hold accountable the person who we allege took Tricia’s life. It is always with mixed emotions that we make these announcements as we know this will not fill the void caused by the loss of a daughter, a sister and a friend to many,” said Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. “I do hope, however, that it brings hope to some of the families who are still awaiting answers. This is a case that was solved not by a new development in forensic science, but as a result of relentless investigative work and a change in circumstances for some parties involved. When we created a dedicated unit to look at our uncharged cases, we hoped for outcomes like this one. We know that time can change many things, and in this case we were able to uncover new information that led us to this arrest.”
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