The person wanted in the deaths of a New Mexico state trooper and a South Carolina paramedic was apprehended Sunday after a shootout with law enforcement, according to officials.
The defendant, Jeremy Smith, was apprehended in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, after leading police on a foot chase that ended with him being shot and wounded by at least one Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputy, according to the New Mexico State Police.
Smith is accused of fatally shooting New Mexico State Police officer Justin Hare early Friday and killing Phonesia Machado-Fore, a South Carolina paramedic who was reported missing on Thursday, authorities said.
Police identified the 33-year-old suspect on Saturday and launched a huge manhunt. Smith’s arrest occurred less than 24 hours after New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler stated, “Jaremy Smith, we are coming for you.”
“Yesterday, we promised to bring Jaremy Smith to justice. “There was nowhere he could run, and nowhere he could hide,” Weisler said at a news conference Sunday to announce Smith’s capture. “Today, thanks to our community, to our fellow law enforcement partners, we were able to do that.”
Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said a gas station clerk in Albuquerque noticed a man matching Smith’s description about 7 a.m. local time Sunday and alerted authorities. He stated that when cops got at the location, they noticed Smith heading down a road in a residential neighborhood and quickly began establishing a perimeter.
“A foot pursuit began, and shots were fired. Some shots hit Smith. We don’t know how many or how much. “That is still under investigation,” Allen stated.
He stated that Smith was transferred to a local hospital, where he was guarded and treated.
“When a law enforcement officer is killed anywhere in the state of New Mexico, we stand as a unified front,” Allen said, praising the work of federal, state, and local law enforcement “who worked as a team to make sure we took someone that was very dangerous to the public, all of our communities, into custody.”
The incident left no deputies harmed, according to officials.
Hare was gunned down and killed around 5 a.m. Friday after responding to a request to assist a disabled driver on Interstate 40 near Tucumcari, about 235 miles east of Albuquerque and near the Texas border, officials said.
When Hare arrived behind the disabled BMW, the suspect got out and approached the officer’s passenger side window, according to Weisler.
“A short conversation ensued about repairing his tire and possibly getting a ride back to town when, without warning, the suspect pulled out a firearm and shot Officer Hare,” Weisler said at a news conference on Saturday.
According to Weisler, the suspect then approached the driver’s side of the patrol car and reportedly shot Hare again. He claimed that Smith pulled Hare into the passenger seat and drove away in the patrol car with the fatally injured officer.
When Hare did not respond to repeated attempts to contact him, an officer was dispatched to the location and observed Hare’s patrol car going at high speed on a frontage road along Interstate 40, Weisler said. Hare managed to activate a distress signal, which sent an emergency signal to dispatch, according to authorities.
Weisler stated that police eventually recovered the patrol car, which was smashed and empty. Hare was later discovered seriously injured on the side of the road and sent to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
During the inquiry, investigators discovered that the automobile Smith was driving at the time of the interaction with Hare belonged to Machado-Fore, a paramedic for Florence County Emergency Medical Services in South Carolina, according to authorities.
Machado-Fore was discovered dead outside Lake View in Dillon County, South Carolina, on Friday, after her family reported her missing, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Smith has an “extensive” criminal background extending back decades in South Carolina and ties to the Albuquerque area, according to Weisler.
Prior to Smith’s arrest, warrants were filed charging him with Hare’s murder.
Weisler stated that the investigation is ongoing, and authorities are looking for anyone who assisted Smith in coming to Albuquerque.
“We will be tirelessly searching for any ledes and any individuals that we discover were involved with that,” Weisler was quoted as saying.
Hare’s girlfriend, Daizzare, the mother of his two girls who is expecting their third child, issued a statement Sunday hailing Hare as “an amazing son, father, spouse, and Police Officer.”
“The role he played in the lives of his family and those close to him will never be forgotten,” she said in a statement. “The fact that Justin put his passion into whatever he did exemplified who he was. It’s difficult to describe his life and personality into paragraphs since he was ineffable.
She continued, “Justin adored me and our family. He always went above and beyond to make sure we got what we required. Not just monetarily or materially, but he was always present. He always made it clear to the girls and me that we were his top priority.