Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Jaremy Smith will spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to multiple federal charges Friday for fatally shooting a New Mexico State Police patrolman west of Tucumcari last March and killing a South Carolina paramedic.
Smith’s guilty plea was part of a plea agreement. Federal law-enforcement officials made the announcement Friday.
On March 13, Smith abducted a paramedic Phonesia Machado-Fore from her home in South Carolina, transported her in a stolen vehicle and fatally shot her with a handgun that he had stolen from her roommate.
After the murder, Smith fled across state lines to evade prosecution, traveling through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas before entering New Mexico.
On March 15 in Quay County, Smith fatally shot NMSP officer Justin Hare of Logan after Hare stopped to assist him with a flat tire west of Tucumcari on Interstate 40.
Smith then stole Hare’s police cruiser with the wounded officer inside, driving for several minutes before abandoning the vehicle and Hare on a frontage road. Hare died of his injuries at a hospital later that morning. Hare left behind a girlfriend and two children.
Law enforcement immediately launched a huge manhunt for Smith. He was apprehended in Albuquerque on March 17 by Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies after a gas station employee recognized Smith and contacted police.
Smith pled guilty Friday to five counts, including carjacking resulting in death, using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, kidnapping resulting in death, being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm.
Smith will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled. Smith faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
As part of the plea agreement, Smith agreed the appropriate sentence was lifetime incarceration without the possibility of parole.
The U.S. Department of Justice previously determined it would not seek the death penalty for Smith for the incidents that occurred in New Mexico.
Smith still faces state charges in South Carolina and possibly New Mexico.
“A life sentence for a life taken does not make our community whole. But the best way to honor Justin Hare’s life is to take care of each other,” U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez stated in a news release. “Today, I commit myself to the people of New Mexico. In the memory of a brave State Police officer whose final act was to help another.
“In honor of the hundreds of law enforcement officers who worked around the clock to protect this community and do justice for their fallen brother. And in the footsteps of the gas station clerks, everyday citizens, who bravely did the right thing in the face of clear and present danger. It is time for us all to join these strangers who did the right thing for people they never met.”
"Officer Justin Hare and Ms. Machado-Fore were tragically killed by Jaremy Smith. While nothing can undo this heartbreaking loss, today offers a measure of justice for their friends and family," said Troy Weisler, Chief of the New Mexico State Police. "Thanks to the efforts of our law enforcement partners and the support of the community, Jaremy Smith will never again take a breath as a free man, and that is as it should be."
The FBI Albuquerque Field Office and New Mexico State Police investigated the case with aid from the 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Tucumcari and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Mysliwiec and Jack Burkhead are prosecuting the case.