South Carolina man pleads guilty to the carjacking and killing of a New Mexico police officer

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A South Carolina man pleaded guilty Friday to charges that he gunned down a New Mexico state police officer who had stopped to help him, marking a turning point in a case that had been set for trial later this year.

Jaremy Smith entered the new plea during a hearing Friday in U.S. district court in Albuquerque as part of an agreement reached with federal prosecutors. Smith will face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

Dozens of state police officers packed the courtroom during the hearing and later gathered on the steps outside. They were joined by top state and federal law enforcement officials and the parents of the fallen officer.

“I just want to say that I’m glad this sorry excuse of a human being owned up to what he did. It’s been 10 long months to get to this point,” said Jim Hare, the father of State Police Officer Justin Hare.

Smith had pleaded not guilty last year to several charges that included kidnapping resulting in a death; carjacking resulting in a death; using a firearm during the commission of violent crime; and possession of a stolen firearm. A charge related to driving a stolen vehicle across state lines was dropped as part of the agreement.

He also is charged in South Carolina in the killing of a paramedic there whose stolen car was involved in the officer’s killing in New Mexico.

New Mexico Public Safety Secretary Jason Bowie said after the court hearing that his department and state police officers will continue to stand with Hare’s family throughout the sentencing process. He also lamented that New Mexico’s current statutes fall short of federal punishments for violent crimes like killing a police officer and that state leaders need to do more to hold repeat offenders accountable.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has hosted some community meetings ahead of the legislative session. Bowie said those gatherings made clear that people don’t feel safe.

“I think every community is fed up with it,” Bowie said, confirming that public safety will be among the top priorities during the legislative session that starts Tuesday.

The fatal shooting of Officer Justin Hare happened before dawn on March 15, 2024, along Interstate 40 near the community of Tucumcari. The killing set off a search for Smith, who was wounded and captured two days later in Albuquerque after authorities got a tip from a gas station clerk.

According to a criminal complaint, Hare had been dispatched to help a motorist in a white BMW. After parking behind the BMW, a man approached his patrol car on the passenger side. The two then began talking about a flat tire, and the officer offered Smith a ride to a nearby town because no repair shop was open at that hour.

Seconds later, Smith shot Hare and then went to the driver’s side and waited until traffic passed to shoot the officer again, according to dash camera video that was released as part of the investigation.

Authorities said Smith then pushed the officer into the passenger seat and drove away. The duress signal on the officer’s radio was triggered and other officers responded.

Hare was found about an hour later, alive but fatally injured on the side of a frontage road. The 35-year-old father had been with the state police agency since 2018.

State Police later learned the BMW had been reported missing in South Carolina and belonged to a woman who was killed there — Phonesia Machado-Fore, 52, a Marion County paramedic. Her body was found outside Lake View in neighboring Dillon County.

While U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland opted not to pursue the death penalty against Smith, it could be on the table with the pending state case in South Carolina, said Alexander M.M. Uballez, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico.

Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press