This photo provided by Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction shows Jesse D. Hanes.
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Officials say 38-year-old Jesse D. Hanes, whose last known address was in Columbus, Ohio, now faces one count of willful and deliberate first-degree murder in Ohio for the death of a 62-year-old-man found shot in his home in July.
An Ohio fugitive wanted on murder charges has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a New Mexico police officer, while a second man is being held on a warrant.
Police suspect 38-year-old Jesse Hanes was the shooter.
Following a report from a Texas television station, the Ohio Attorney General’s office issued a statement from Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader that said they have no evidence to connect Hanes and Nelson to the murders of eight members of the Rhoden family in April.
Hanes remains hospitalized after shooting himself in the leg.
Nelson is now only being held on a fugitive from justice charge.
Authorities say a fugitive from OH was with another suspect believed to have fatally shot a New Mexico police officer during a traffic stop Friday.
In the vehicle with Hanes was 36-year-old James Nelson, who along with Hanes was wanted in OH in the July 25 shooting death of a 62-year-old man about 60 miles south of Columbus.
Nelson will face murder charges for the death of officer Chavez and officials say more charges will likely come as the investigation continues. Nelson is being heled on a fugitive from justice warrant.
Dona Ana County Sheriff Enrique “Kiki” Vigil said Chavez went through training at the department’s academy in 2013 and that he was considered one of their own.
The suspects fled and later shot the driver of a Chevrolet Cruze at a rest stop and took his vehicle, said Kelly Jameson, spokeswoman for the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office.
Meanwhile, a passerby alerted law enforcement to two other men who were acting suspicious in the area.
Deputies were able to locate those men, who are suspected to be the other two men involved in the case. Stop sticks were put out, flattening the tires and the SUV crashed.
The Lexus was spotted by witnesses a short time later at a rest stop, where Hanes is accused of demanding auto keys from a driver before shooting him in the torso. The third man is not believed to be involved in the OH murder or the shooting of the police officer in New Mexico, Jameson said.
Authorities say the confrontation began when Chavez pulled over Hanes in the village of Hatch, about 40 miles northwest of Las Cruces.
Sheriff’s deputies saw the Cruze and pursued the auto, deploying a tire-deflating device that successfully flattened its tires.
However, the Dona Ana County authorities have yet to identify the two people arrested with Hanes.
Hanes was sought in OH in the July 25 shooting death of a 62-year-old man just outside Chillicothe, about 60 miles south of Columbus.
Authorities took the suspect who was driving the Cruze into custody after a police chase that ended with him crashing the vehicle into a pile of wood.
Hanes then fled on Interstate 25 at speeds up to 100 miles per hour before stopping at the rest stop, authorities said. An Albuquerque funeral business has offered to provide free services, Jameson said.
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Authorities say one of the suspects suffered a gunshot wound to the right thigh.
