NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Federal charges were filed Thursday against a South Carolina man accused of killing New Mexico State Police Officer Justin Hare. The charges were announced during a press conference held by the United States Attorney’s Office and New Mexico Department of Justice outside the Pete V. Domenici U.S. Courthouse in Albuquerque.
Jaremy Smith, 32, of Marion, South Carolina, is charged with carjacking resulting in death and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Smith is expected to be in federal court in Albuquerque at Noon Friday for his initial appearance.
According to the newly filed court documents and previous information disclosed by New Mexico State Police, Officer Hare was dispatched around 5 a.m. on Friday, March 15, to help a motorist with a flat tire on I-40 near mile marker 318, west of Tucumcari.
Officer Hare parked behind a white BMW, and Smith approached the officer’s passenger side window. The two had a brief conversation about the flat tire before Smith fired at the officer, court documents stated. New Mexico State Police said Smith walked over to the driver’s side and shot Hare again before he got into the officer’s vehicle. Smith then pushed Hare into the passenger seat and drove away in the officer’s patrol car.
Approximately five minutes after Officer Hare arrived at the scene, a duress signal from Hare’s radio was activated. Backup units were sent to the scene, where they found an unoccupied BMW with a flat tire.
Hare was found on a frontage road near milepost 312 with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and neck. Hare’s police vehicle was found crashed on the side of the road with no one inside near mile marker 304. Officer Hare was found with gunshot wounds to the head and neck. He was then taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Law enforcement conducted a manhunt for Smith on Friday, which ended in Bernalillo County on Sunday. BCSO said a clerk at a gas station located on Sunshine W Plaza Drive reported they saw someone matching Smith’s description. Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies found Smith in the area of Unser and Anderson Hill. During a foot pursuit of Smith, court documents state that Smith reached for his waistband, and BCSO deputies shot Smith. Smith was taken into custody and taken to a local hospital to be treated.
Smith is also listed as a person of interest in connection to a missing paramedic in South Carolina. The body of 52-year-old Phonesia Machado-Fore was discovered on Friday. The BMW Smith was driving in New Mexico was registered to Machado-Fore, according to court documents. United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Alexander M.M. Uballez, said no federal charges have been filed in South Carolina at this time.
South Carolina court records show that Smith has an extensive criminal history in South Carolina dating back 15 years and logging more than a dozen felonies.
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