Getaway driver sentenced to at least 15 years in prison for deadly Jefferson Twp. bar shooting

Nov. 20 – A man reportedly was the getaway driver in a shooting that left a security guard and former law enforcement officer dead outside a Jefferson Twp. has been sentenced to prison.

Julien Swindle, 22, was sentenced to 15 to 19.5 years in prison, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records.

He pleaded guilty last week to aggravated robbery and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of 30-year-old Darnell Pate Jr. on January 29.

According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Swindle was the getaway driver in a shooting at Napoleon’s Bar, at 4150 Germantown Pike. He also reportedly committed a separate armed robbery on the same day.

Officers 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 abandoned in the area was used by those responsible for Pate’s death.

Pate worked as a security guard at the bar and had left after his shift ended. He previously worked in law enforcement for several different departments in Southwest Ohio

Pate and his young daughter turned heads when he took her to the funeral for slain Dayton Detective Jorge DelRio in November 2019. Pate was a police officer for the city of Union at the time.

“She absolutely loves what I do and tells people about it all the time,” Pate said more than five years ago. ‘I talked to her about the officer’s death and asked if she wanted to go with Dad 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 assault, and one count each of aggravated robbery and possession of weapons under disability in Pate’s death.

Jones’ case is still awaiting trial.