Prior to traveling cross-country, a guy who was previously charged with the death of a state trooper in New Mexico is now accused of killing a paramedic in South Carolina.
Two days after it was reported that Jaremy Smith had shot state police officer Justin Hare, Smith was taken into custody in Albuquerque on March 17.
According to the authorities, Hare pulled over to help a driver with a flat tire. Police claimed that Smith, the driver, shot the trooper and then left the scene.
Authorities in South Carolina discovered the body of missing paramedic Phonesia Machado-Fore on the same day that Hare was killed. According to authorities, Smith was operating Machado-Fore’s white BMW in New Mexico.
Since then, the Marion County (S.C.) Sheriff’s Office has filed 17 arrest warrants for Smith, who was first thought to be a person of interest in Machado-Fore’s death, including one for murder. Among the other charges on the other warrants are those for kidnapping, carjacking, burglary, and felon in possession of a handgun.
Smith was taken into custody after a two-day manhunt in Bernalillo County, where he was shot in the foot by a sheriff’s deputy, according to the police.
Smith was charged on March 22 by the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico. The charges include carjacking that results in death and firing a firearm during and in connection with violent crimes. If he has entered a plea, it is not immediately apparent.
52-year-old Machado-Fore was an EMT who was married with two kids. She was getting ready to relocate to Minnesota in order to be nearer to her oldest daughter and her grandchildren, according to a GoFundMe page.
“I have never seen a larger investigative force and collaboration than I have with this case. For days, my office was filled with law enforcement officers from federal, state and local agencies around the clock with one mission: find Phonesia and the person or persons responsible for her disappearance,” Marion County Sheriff Brian Wallace stated. “While we regret that we were unable to return Phonesia to her loved ones alive and well, we were able to locate her and offer her loved ones an opportunity to say a final farewell.”
