Years after a brutal crime shattered a High Desert community, an arrest has been made in the case of a teenage boy found dead in Apple Valley. San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department confirmed that Antonio Rodriguez, a 26-year-old local resident, has been charged with the murder of 16-year-old Robert Schmidt Jr., whose lifeless body was discovered in a field back in 2022.
According to the Sheriff's Department, intensive investigative efforts finally pointed to Rodriguez as the prime suspect in this cold case, marking a significant breakthrough nearly three years after the incident. On Monday, Rodriguez was taken into custody and booked at the High Desert Detention Center on murder charges, with law enforcement holding him there without the possibility of bail, KTLA reported.
The victim, Robert Schmidt Jr., was discovered on October 18, 2022, in a dirt field near Navajo Road, close to a skatepark where he had spent his last known hours. The boy had suffered multiple stab wounds, leading to his death. At the time, the case seemed to languish without leads, leaving the family and community in a state of desperate need for answers. In a statement obtained by KTLA, the victim's mother, Elizabeth Schmidt, recounted the harrowing experience of her search for her son and the devastating realization that the crime scene she happened upon that day was where her son's life had ended.
Detective Jacob Rollins of the Specialized Investigations Division, Homicide Detail, has urged anyone with additional information to come forward as the investigation is still active. Meanwhile, the community still grapples with the grief and unsettled questions that have lingered since Schmidt Jr.'s death. "He was my everything. He was my only boy, he was awesome," Beto Schmidt told KTLA in a heart-wrenching interview in the months following her son's murder.
Those with knowledge about this tragic case are encouraged to contact Detective Rollins at (909) 890-4904, or to remain anonymous, call We-Tip at 1-800-78CRIME or visit www.wetip.com.
