911 call details frantic moments after shooting
Carjacker was on multistate crime spree
Authorities have released a frantic 911 call from the man who was shot during a violent abduction and carjacking at La Luz trailhead Tuesday night.
“A man just shot me and I think he killed my girlfriend,” 19-yearold Devon Philo frantically told the dispatcher around 6:30 p.m., according to the 911 call made public Thursday.
His girlfriend, 18-year-old Sara Reeves, later managed to escape. Neither of the teens was seriously injured.
And although they may not have realized it at the time, they were lucky.
The suspect, 28-year-old
Alex Deaton, had already allegedly killed two people in Mississippi and shot and injured another last week before he made his way to New Mexico.
On Tuesday night, he jumped out from some bushes near the La Luz trailhead and forced the couple into the trunk of the Honda Accord they’d borrowed from Reeves’ parents, according to the 911 call.
The couple managed to escape, but Deaton shot Philo and chased down Reeves to recapture her. He took her to a home where he stole another vehicle from the homeowner at gunpoint. She was able to escape again, according to the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office.
But Philo didn’t know what had happened to her when he called for help. A bystander made the call and Philo then spoke with the dispatcher, saying he’d been shot in the buttocks, but wasn’t
bleeding severely.
He described being shot and said he then took back the Honda. Meanwhile, Deaton took Reeves to steal the second vehicle.
Philo thought Deaton had killed Reeves.
“He shot me and then I fell down and then he chased Sara more,” he said. “She got away a little bit, but I think he killed her.”
Philo pleaded for police to get there quickly.
“He’s still out there and he still has guns. I don’t know if he’s coming back down here,” he said.
Once Reeves escaped, Deaton somehow managed to get back to the Honda, which Philo had left running nearby, and took off. He disappeared from law enforcement radar all night, but turned up in Kansas on Wednesday morning where he shot and injured a gas station clerk and stole another car, according to authorities.
He was arrested after a police chase and fiery crash, putting an end to the multistate crime spree. Authorities haven’t said what charges he’ll face.