Justin Swenson, a 39-year-old White male from the Carlsbad, New Mexico, area, was remembered as a man who loved his kids and family. A graduate of Kermit High School, he worked in the oilfields as a pumper and in flowback. His life was cut short in a violent encounter at his home in the spring of 2019.
In the early morning hours of May 28, 2019, officers from the Loving Police Department responded to a call and found Swenson deceased inside his residence on Nymeyer Road.
He had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Investigators learned that a truck with a loud exhaust was seen leaving the area around the time of the shooting. The investigation soon revealed that Swenson’s death was the tragic outcome of a planned robbery.
According to a federal criminal complaint, four people conspired to steal motorcycles belonging to Swenson. The plan involved Jehra Lynn Hedgecock luring Swenson out of his house while Stetson Shane Barnes, Donald Alfred Busch, and Tyson Lee Terrell went to a carport to take the motorcycles. As the group fled the scene in Hedgecock’s pickup truck, Barnes allegedly fired multiple shots from the backseat. One of the bullets struck and killed Swenson.
Within days of the homicide, the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office made a series of arrests. Barnes, Hedgecock, Busch, and Terrell were taken into custody. A fifth man, Randall Melton, was arrested and charged with harboring or aiding a felon. Initially, Hedgecock, Busch, and Barnes faced state charges of first-degree murder, but in June 2020, the state dismissed its case to allow federal prosecutors to take over. The four main suspects were then federally charged with conspiracy to commit carjacking.
On July 22, 2021, Jehra Lynn Hedgecock pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, one count of carjacking resulting in death, and a related firearms charge. Barnes and Busch proceeded to a two-week federal trial. On November 12, 2021, a jury found both men guilty of conspiracy to commit carjacking, carjacking resulting in death, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Busch was also found guilty of using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence. The jury, however, failed to reach a verdict in the case against Tyson Terrell.
As of November 2021, Stetson Shane Barnes, Donald Alfred Busch, and Jehra Lynn Hedgecock were in federal custody awaiting sentencing.
