Court documents shed light on suspect’s actions before alleged shooting of NMSP officer
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – KRQE News 13 has learned new information about the suspect accused of shooting and killing New Mexico State Police Officer Justin Hare in March.
Jaremy Smith, from Marion, South Carolina, is accused of shooting and killing Hare after the officer stopped to help him with a flat tire near Tucumcari on March 15. Court documents filed earlier this month detail how Smith ended up in New Mexico, and his suspected involvement with the murder of a South Carolina paramedic.
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According to the documents, the white BMW Smith was driving when Officer Hare pulled over to help him belonged to the paramedic, identified as 52-year-old Phonesia Machado-Fore. One day before Officer Hare was killed, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina got a missing person’s report for Machado-Fore.
Machado-Fore’s roommate allegedly told investigators that Smith had been to their residence before Machado-Fore disappeared. GPS data was able to determine that the stolen car had made a stop in South Carolina, where Machado-Fore’s body was later discovered with a gunshot to the head.
Smith then reportedly visited a male friend in the area and offered him a ride to Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to leaving South Carolina, the two stopped at a house Smith described as quote “his girl’s house,” court records state. There, police believe they took six guns from the home, which Smith later sold. Police records show the two then left Marion County, South Carolina, and made stops in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.
Along the way, court documents state that Smith “became disrespectful and threatened to kill” his friend who later got off at a gas station in Texas, refusing to continue traveling with Smith. Soon after, police say Smith made it to New Mexico. Smith is facing the death penalty if convicted of his charges here in New Mexico. Jury selection is expected to begin on June 10 at the federal courthouse in Albuquerque.
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