The Latest on the cross-state motorcade procession for a fallen New Mexico police officer (all times local): 5:30 p.m. Authorities say an OH fugitive will be charged with first-degree murder in the death of a New Mexico police officer. The motorist suffered a serious injury and remains hospitalized in stable condition. Monday, thousands of New Mexicans lined Interstate 25 with signs, salutes and American flags as a motorcade escorted his body from Albuquerque back home to Las Cruces.
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According to the federal criminal complaint, on the afternoon of August 12, 2016, Officer Chavez executed a traffic stop in Hatch, N.M., on a Lexus driven by Hanes and in which two other men were passengers.
Munoz, who grew up in Hatch and lives in Albuquerque, said he was shocked by the shooting.
Jones and Nelson are not charged in Chavez’s death.
Nelson is scheduled to make his first court appearance since the shooting before a magistrate in Las Cruces on Monday afternoon.
Authorities say one of the fugitives reached through a window and shot Chavez, who was standing on the passenger’s side of the auto.
Dozens of people have begun gathering in Albuquerque to pay their respects to a police officer who was shot and killed in a small New Mexico village.
The body of Jose Chavez, 33, was being transported south to his hometown of Las Cruces. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their felony conviction records for federal prosecution with the goal of removing violent, repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.
Meanwhile, residents in Milwaukee burned and looted their town after a cop killed a 23-year-old black man who refused to drop a gun loaded with 23 rounds that he held in his hand as he turned to face the officer after fleeing a traffic stop.
Don Underwood, of Albuquerque, says he teared up when he heard about Chavez’s death on the news.
Funeral services for Chavez are scheduled for Sunday in Las Cruces at New Mexico State University’s Pan American Center.
Las Cruces PD says the interstate medians – southbound or northbound – should not be used to park or stand to watch the procession.
Chavez, a New Mexico police officer in a small village famous for its green chile, was gunned down after pulling over two OH murder suspects. Jones was a passenger traveling in a silver 1991 Lexus with Jesse Hanes, 38, and James Nelson, 36.
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