Oklahoma
Oklahoma Cold Case Files: Alejandro Sandoval
TULSA, Okla. — It’s a case with few leads, no suspects and little to go on. The 2003 cold case of Alejandro Sandoval is about as stalled as it comes.
It was September 9, 2003, and Tulsa Police said Alejandro Sandoval was living at the Salida Creek Apartments in east Tulsa.
That day, officers said he was shot outside his building and then staggered inside his apartment where he collapsed.
Detectives told 2 News the Sandoval case is unusual.
Investigators don’t even have a photo of him, but what they do have is a case that’s remained cold for 21 years.
“In his final moments he had gone into his apartment and told his girlfriend that there was somebody chasing him, and then he laid down on the floor and he never really regained consciousness from there,” said Lt. Brandon Watkins.
Tulsa police said it wasn’t hard to figure out how Sandoval died.
“It turned out that he was shot,” said Watkins.
However, officers said there was little cooperation from nearby witnesses at the time of Sandoval’s death.
“There’s a little bit of discrepancy when you read the reports. It’s hard to tell if he ran in there once or came outside and then came back but at some point, he was shot,” said Watkins.
Police said another thing that makes this case so difficult is the numerous names that Sandoval used throughout his life.
“Mr. Sandoval had multiple aliases and his actual real name was Jose Mendoza Agular, but he also went by Alberto Diaz. He was apparently involved in the drug trade and had been having multiple run-ins with people around his apartment complex in the month leading up to his death,” said Watkins.
Watkins said it’s possible one of those enemies may have caught up with him outside his apartment that day.
Despite what he was possibly involved with, Watkins said no one deserves to lose their life at the hand of another.
“Often when people lead a high-risk lifestyle, this is often the outcome of it and no one ever deserves it. I mean yeah, he is committing crimes, but you can pay for that through the judicial system, not by someone’s hand,” said Watkins.
If you have any information about the death of Alejandro Sandoval, you can call Tulsa Crime Stoppers.
That number is 918-596-COPS.
Go even deeper into cold cases in Green Country with our podcast. New episodes drop in Fridays.
Oklahoma isn’t done yet.
The Sooners’ bats kept them in the Atlanta Regional with an emphatic showing in the Atlanta Regional on Sunday.
Deiten LaChance’s grand slam highlighted OU’s eight-run fourth inning, which turned Sunday’s contest against No. 2-overall seed Georgia Tech on its head.
Prior to the fourth, it looked as if it was going to be the Yellow Jackets’ night.
The hosts plated five runs in the third inning to take a 7-2 lead, and a call went against OU in the bottom of the third.
How to Watch Oklahoma vs. Georgia Tech in the Atlanta Regonal Final
- When: Monday, June 1
- Time: 2 p.m.
- Channel: ESPNU
Trey Gambill had snaked a single through the Georgia Tech infield to plate a run and cut the lead down with two outs, but just before the pitch was thrown, the third base umpire raised his arm to indicate there had been a pitch clock violation.
Lucky to have just gotten out of the situation with a ball, Yellow Jacket pitcher Jackson Blakely struck Gambill out, which understandably did not go over well in Oklahoma’s dugout.
The setback only galvanized Skip Johnson’s Sooners, however.
OU responded by sending 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the fourth, and the Sooners took a 10-8 lead.
It was an advantage they never relented.
Oklahoma added an insurance run in the seventh and four more in the eighth to ensure that the Sooners would head back to the team hotel with a decisive Game 7 of the Atlanta Regional on the mind.
Johnson will have a big choice to make in who starts the do-or-die contest on Monday afternoon (2 p.m., ESPNU).
In OU’s first game against The Citadel on Sunday, Johnson rolled with freshman Nick Wesloski.
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He pitched seven innings to get the Sooners into Sunday night’s contest against Georgia Tech. Oklahoma’s big offensive showing against the Bulldogs meant that Johnson could make any choice necessary in relief, so he threw Reid Hensley and Jaden Barfield for an inning each to seal the win.
Against the Yellow Jackets, OU started Cameron Johnson. He faced just three batters, allowing two runs on two hits, before Oklahoma turned to Jackson Cleveland.
Cleveland tossed three innings in relief. OU also used two innings of Gavyn Jones and LJ Mercurius picked up a save by pitching four innings on Sunday night.
The winner between Monday’s battle will meet 15-seed Kansas in next weekend’s Super Regionals. Georgia Tech would host the Jayhawks with a win, whereas the Sooners would head to Lawrence next weekend if they are able to oust the top seed left in the NCAA Tournament.
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Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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Brent Venables got Oklahoma back to the College Football Playoff in 2025, and while the season was a massive success, merely making the 12-team field isn’t good enough for anyone in Norman — Venables included.
The Sooners enter 2026 with something that has been missing on both sides of the ball for a few years: continuity.
OU returns its starting quarterback, John Mateer, for the first time since Dillon Gabriel started Venables’ first two seasons as head coach.
Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle is back, and while Venables lost cornerbacks coach Jay Valai to the Buffalo Bills, Venables has everyone else back on his staff and he’s the architect of the defense.
The schedule will be tough again, but expectations are high for Venables’ fifth team at Oklahoma.
Here are three areas the Sooners need to improve to get back in the national championship picture.
Run the Ball
Venables hasn’t shied away from OU’s issues running the football.
He’s put improvement in the rushing attack at the forefront all throughout the offseason, from working to sharpen the mentality of the offense to bringing in pieces like right tackle E’Marion Harris and a virtually new tight end room to help the cause.
More consistency on the ground will take pressure off Mateer’s shoulders.
It will not only allow OU to control the clock and give its defense a rest, but it will also open up the passing game downfield if the second and third levels of opposing defenses truly have to worry about bottling up the run and the pass.
The inability to run the ball was the Sooners’ most glaring issue in 2025, so there is plenty of room for improvement this fall.
Limit Mateer’s Turnovers
At times, Mateer had to do everything for OU’s offense in 2025.
There were memorable moments, but Mateer also had a handful of head-scratching mistakes.
He threw a career-high 11 interceptions a year ago, and his downturn in turnovers in November coincided with the Sooners’ employing conservative game plans.
His worst moment came in the loss to Texas, where he threw three picks, but that performance came 17 days after thumb surgery, where he clearly was unable to throw the ball downfield with real accuracy.
But he threw a pick in each of his first three games on questionable decisions, then he threw a nearly catastrophic pick against Tennessee when the Sooners were just trying to milk the clock late.
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He tossed another three picks against LSU, and the pick six he threw against Alabama helped the Crimson Tide roar all the way back after digging a 17-point hole in the College Football Playoff.
Mateer’s freewheeling nature produced incredible moments, and that will lead to risky throws. The tradeoff in those moments is usually worth it, but he can cut down on his misfires elsewhere to find a balance between pushing the envelope and taking care of the football.
Avoid the Back-breaking Special Teams Plays
Oklahoma was excellent on special teams in 2025 for the most part.
Kicker Tate Sandell won the program’s first Lou Groza Award for his incredible season, and special teams played a big role in massive victories, like Isaiah Sategna’s first punt return in Tuscaloosa that set OU’s offense up deep in Alabama territory.
But the few special teams lapses were monumental.
Texas effectively put away the Red River Showdown by returning a punt for a touchdown, though Venables correctly pointed out a key block in the back that wasn’t called that helped spring the touchdown.
But in the Cotton Bowl, the call stood, and it’s the kind of play that cannot happen when lining up against the best competition on the schedule.
Then, in the CFP, punter Grayson Miller oddly dropped the football, leading to a blocked punt. Alabama was able to take that play and start clawing its way back into the contest.
Doug Deakin has done a phenomenal job with the Sooners’ special teams units, but there are still improvements to be made in 2026.
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