‘YOU’LL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN’
Thousands pay final respects to slain Hatch policeman Jose Ismael Chavez
LAS CRUCES — A wreath of white flowers in the shape of badge No. 105, American flags and blue bouquets decorated the stage at a funeral Sunday for fallen Hatch police officer Jose Ismael Chavez that drew thousands.
A funeral procession that began in Hatch — watched by a solemn crowd amid the smell of roasting green chile — stretched nine miles long. It arrived in Las Cruces to the wail of hundreds of sirens and a constant drizzling rain.
Chavez’s police vehicle led the procession aboard a wrecker, a choice by Hatch Police Chief James “Trey” Gimler, who requested that no one be allowed to drive the unit, according to Doña Ana County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Jameson. The unit bore “silent witness” outside the Pan American Center at New Mexico State University, where the funeral was held.
Inside, hundreds of law enforcement officers of all stripes from local, state and federal agencies across New Mexico and the region stood at attention in their uniforms among thousands of other mourners.
Bagpipes played as the Hatch police department’s five officers, Chief Gimler and Lt. Corey Watkins bore in a flag-draped casket.
Chavez was described as a hero, an exceptional officer, and his final acts on the day of the Aug. 12 traffic stop that would lead to his fatal shooting in the farming village of 1,600 people, brave.
Authorities have three men in custody in connection with his death, including two
Ohio fugitives accused of murder in that state.
Originally from Mexico and a naturalized U.S. citizen, Chavez joined the tiny police department in the Village of Hatch two and a half years ago and displayed exactly the qualities Chief James “Trey” Gimler was looking for in a new officer: character, work ethic, honesty and commitment, he said in a letter read by Doña Ana County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Jameson, with Gimler at her side.
“These traits and many others were beaming through the eyes of Jose Chavez,” she said. “Jose was dressed like a Wall Street banker that day and you could tell he was miserable dressed like that. ‘I just need a chance to prove myself,’ Jose said. He exceeded all expectations.”
Gov. Susana Martinez spoke at the funeral, her voice breaking.
“He achieved the American dream of becoming a law enforcement officer and wore a uniform with amazing pride and purpose,” she said.
Then, addressing Chavez’s two girls, 6-year-old Aryam and 14-year-old Jannely, Martinez said through tears, “It’s never easy to lose a loved one ... but you should know that your daddy will be walking alongside you for the rest of your life as your guardian angel. And his brothers and sisters in law enforcement will be there for you as well because they are your family.”
Bishop Oscar Cantú of the Las Cruces Catholic Diocese spoke of “a love that is more powerful than death, more powerful than fear,” and addressed Chavez’s family in Spanish.
“Officer Chavez’s decision to become a police officer to protect and to serve was a decision of love. His putting his life on the line every time he responded to a call or made a traffic stop was a decision to love.”
Chavez stopped a 1991 silver Lexus on the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 12, and was fatally shot.
Jesse Hanes, 38, faces a murder charge and federal firearms and carjacking charges in connection with the shooting. The second fugitive, 36-year-old James Nelson, faces multiple drug trafficking charges. A third man believed to be a hitchhiker in the car with them that day faces a drug possession charge.
Hatch Mayor Andy Nuñez also spoke at the service, as did 3rd Judicial District Attorney Mark D’Antonio, U.S. Attorney in New Mexico Damon Martinez and U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce, R-NM.
Representatives of the Chicago and New York City police departments were in attendance, Jameson said, as were representatives from law enforcement in Texas, Arizona and Colorado.
Many people expressed disbelief that something like this could happen in a close-knit community.
Frank Angel Sr.’s son Frank Angel Jr. is one of the Hatch police department’s five officers. When he heard the news that a Hatch policeman had been shot, he believed for a time that it could have been his own son.
In the village, “everybody just keeps talking about it,” he said before the funeral. “They can’t comprehend that it happened in Hatch, just how sad they are for his family and what they are going through now.”
“The sad reality is this can happen anywhere and it happened to us,” Sunland Park Police Chief Jaime Reyes said during the service. “Today, we are all officers of Hatch. We lost a great officer, one of our own and we’ll never get him back. We pray to never feel this pain and loss again.”
After the forlorn call of horns playing taps and a flag-folding ceremony, a woman’s voice from the Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority radioed over the loudspeaker as she would have on a normal day, repeating the call three times: “Central to unit 105 please respond.”
Finally, choking back tears, she said, “You will never be forgotten for your ultimate sacrifice.”