Deputy Kelly Fay Clark, 38, was killed on March 4, 1999, while transporting an inmate from Sierra County, New Mexico. Clark had lived in Truth or Consequences for eight years and worked in the county jail before becoming a deputy sheriff. During a transport to the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants, inmate Michael Archuleta, 20, squeezed through the sliding Plexiglas divider and gained access to Clark’s .40-caliber semiautomatic Glock. A struggle followed; Archuleta shot Clark twice in the head. The patrol cruiser then collided with a truck and Archuleta fled, later carjacking another vehicle on Interstate 40 before being recaptured near a convenience store when he stopped to make a phone call.

Archuleta was charged with an open count of murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony, escape, and disarming a peace officer. Clark’s death prompted multiple memorials in Sierra County, including services at the Truth or Consequences Civic Center and Hot Springs High School, attended by law enforcement from across the state and family members. The New Mexico legislature declared May 11 New Mexico Law Enforcement Officer Day in her honor. Does anyone have firsthand information about the transport procedures or that day in Sierra County?