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Rodney Daniels was convicted of first-degree murder on Wednesday, Aug. 16, in the fatal shooting of Patricia Moreno on July 20, 1991, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office said.
The prosecutor's office and police re-examined her killing as part of a cold case unit investigation in 2020. That meant re-interviewing witnesses, re-examining the evidence with new technology, and recreating the crime scene at 21 Henry St.
Daniels was a suspect in 1991, but he had an alibi witness. However, that witness later told friends and family that she knew Daniels had killed Moreno and where he hid the gun he used to shoot her in the head, the prosecutor said. She said she lied to the police and the grand jury and feared she would be prosecuted if she came forward and admitted the truth.
The woman, whose name was not released, died before investigators could speak to her again.
Police spoke with witnesses who saw a man who matched Daniels' description the night of the murder walking in and out of her apartment. The apartment was a foster home where Moreno lived with her foster parents and their two daughters.
Rodney Daniels was dating the family's eldest daughter, the prosecutor said.
Investigators used this information to obtain a warrant for him in 2021. Police arrested him at his home in South Fulton, Georgia.
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