A South Carolina man has pleaded guilty to federal charges in the death of New Mexico State Police Officer Justin Hare , who was fatally shot by the man after prosecutors said the officer stopped and offered to help him with a flat tire.

Jaremy Smith was on the run from South Carolina, where he’s accused of kidnapping and killing a paramedic, when Hare encountered him with a flat tire on Interstate 40 in Quay County, New Mexico on March 15, 2024, according to prosecutors.

That morning, Hare spoke with Smith about his tire and offered to give him a ride to town, according to court documents, McClatchy News previously reported.

Court documents say Smith, who was standing at the passenger window of Hare’s police cruiser, then suddenly shot Hare in the head with a handgun he had stolen, Tri-City News reports.

Smith shot Hare two more times, got in the police cruiser and stole the vehicle with Hare inside, the plea agreement says.

About five minutes later, Smith pulled over, took Hare out of the cruiser and left him “lying face up on the roadway” before driving off, according to the plea agreement.

In pleading guilty Jan. 17, Smith will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico said in a news release.

Officer Hare was a 35-year-old father of two daughters, New Mexico state Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández said in a statement honoring him after his death.

“South Carolina charges are still pending in the death of our local paramedic Phonesia Machado-Fore,” the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said in a Jan. 17 statement.