Police: New Mexico deputy kills fleeing colleague

Published 1:39 pm Tuesday, October 28, 2014

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A northern New Mexico sheriff’s deputy accused of killing a fellow deputy fired several rounds from his semi-automatic weapon as his colleague tried to flee an alcohol-fueled argument at a hotel, police said Tuesday.

The shooting happened just after midnight at Hotel Encanto in the southern New Mexico city of Las Cruces, where the two Santa Fe County deputies had stopped to spend the night after transporting a prisoner to Arizona.

Jeremy Martin, 29, was pronounced dead at MountainView Regional Medical Center, and detectives were interviewing the other deputy, Tai Chan, 27.

Chan’s attorney, John Day, was on his way to Las Cruces on Tuesday and said details were limited.

“It’s a tragic situation for everybody involved,” the Santa Fe lawyer said.

Investigators say the two deputies went to Dublin’s Street Pub where they drank alcohol and got into an argument, which escalated at the hotel.

As Martin tried to flee into an elevator, several rounds were fired that hit him in the back and arms, authorities said.

Police arrived at the hotel and found Martin staggering off the elevator with multiple wounds, Las Cruces police spokesman Dan Trujillo said.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia said that his department was mourning.

“I have grief counselors or crisis counselors here now meeting with a lot of my personnel, but it’s a grieving law enforcement agency,” Garcia said.

He said Martin had been a deputy for 2 1/2 years, and Chan was on the force for three years.

At an emotional press conference, Garcia called both deputies “hardworking, committed individuals.”

“I’m lost,” Garcia said. “I’m at a loss for words.”