‘He was just a good guy’
Fallen officer laid to rest in Lordsburg
Darian Jarrott spent much of his time in high school on the football field with the Lordsburg Mavericks — where he helped lead the team to its first state championship. He took the field at Lordsburg High School one last time on Friday afternoon, when he was eulogized by his fellow New Mexico State Police officers before being laid to rest.
Around 1:45 p.m., six State Police officers, nickel-plated revolvers on their hips and black bands across their badges, carried Jarrott’s casket — draped beneath an American flag — to the center of the field. The surrounding bleachers and turf were filled with spaced-apart officers as family and friends sat in rows of chairs along the sideline.
The 28-year-old, a father of three with another child on the way, was shot and killed Feb. 4 along Interstate 10, east of Deming. Authorities say Omar Felix Cueva, 39, shot Jarrott during a traffic stop and was killed soon after in a gunfight with authorities near Las Cruces.
Jarrott was the first New Mexico State Police officer shot and killed in the line of duty in over 30 years.
“We share your grief for the loss of a husband, a son, a brother, a public servant tragically taken in the line of duty,” Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces told those gathered. “Your pain is real and our entire community here in southern New Mexico shares that with you.”
During the service, officer Marco Valle said he was at a loss for words after Jarrott’s family asked him to pen the eulogy.
“This is the hardest thing that I’ve ever had to do, but then I realized how easy it is to talk about Darian,” he said. “... Even during the hardest times, he always found a way to make everybody smile or laugh. I know right now he’s smiling down at all of us.”
Valle said he met Jarrott in the academy and the two became best friends and eventually roommates. Valle went on to be the best man at his wedding. They would often gather their families for dinners.
“Darian and I always told each other, ‘We would patrol together until we retire,’ ” Valle said, choking up. He called Jarrott fearless and the smartest person he ever knew.
“Darian’s personal traits are what made him the person he was, he was a leader, brave, caring and most importantly had a big heart,” he said, before sharing some words from Jarrott’s sister: “His name will never be forgotten. Darian Rey Jarrott, fly high, rest easy little brother, we’ll take it from here.”
Afterward, Jarrott’s casket was taken to Shakespeare Cemetery, where clouds crowded out the blue sky and mimicked the distant, shadowed mountains on the horizon. Dozens of officers lined up to face a green canopy where family members and close friends gathered. Many wore shirts with Jarrott’s face on them and, now and then, the voices of children could be heard.
After a formal gun salute, officers folded up the flag atop his casket as “Amazing Grace” roared louder than ever — backed by the steady beat of a drum — then slowly faded. Suddenly, a radio frequency crackled over a loud speaker: “Stand by for final call.”
A woman’s voice read off Jarrott’s badge number, 1251, and “42” — police code for ending tour of duty.
Officer Zachary Talavera, who grew up with Jarrott in Lordsburg and worked with him in the State Police, told the Journal it was good to see the community come together to pay their final respects.
“He was just a good guy. The type that backed you up on everything. You could be on a traffic stop and Jarrott would be the first one to pull up to check on you to make sure you’re all right,” he said. “That’s one thing I’m going to miss about him the most, is just not having him there to back me up on any more traffic stops.”