Officer Jose Ismael Chavez, 33, was shot and killed on August 12, 2016, while conducting a routine traffic stop on Franklin Street in Hatch, New Mexico, at about 3:40 pm. The traffic stop turned fatal when the suspect, identified as 39-year-old Jesse Denver Hanes, shot Chavez and then fled the scene. Hanes went to a nearby rest stop, where he shot another man and stole that man’s car before being apprehended.

Prosecutors pursued both state and federal charges. In May 2017 Hanes pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder, a capital felony, in Third Judicial District Court. The judge imposed the maximum New Mexico sentence: life in prison without the possibility of release or parole. Officer Chavez was remembered as a dedicated public servant and a father of two children.

Does anyone have memories of Officer Chavez or information about the events that day that could add to the record?