FLORENCE, SC — The man who killed a South Carolina EMS worker in March 2024 has now pleaded guilty in federal court, according to prosecutors in South Carolina. The plea centers on the death of paramedic Phonesia Machado-Fore, who was killed two days before the same man shot and killed New Mexico State Police officer Justin Hare.
The case has drawn attention in both states because it links two fatal attacks separated by only days and hundreds of miles. Federal officials say the man later stole Machado-Fore’s car, drove to New Mexico and encountered Hare on Interstate 40 near Tucumcari, where the officer was killed after stopping to help him.
Machado-Fore was killed two days before the New Mexico officer shooting
Prosecutors said the guilty plea covers the March 13, 2024, killing of EMS worker Phonesia Machado-Fore. That death occurred in South Carolina and came before the interstate events that ended with Hare’s death in New Mexico.
According to the timeline laid out by investigators, the March 13 killing set off the chain of events that followed. Two days later, on the morning of March 15, Hare stopped along Interstate 40 near Tucumcari to help the man, who had already made it to New Mexico in Machado-Fore’s stolen vehicle.
The plea in South Carolina does not change the earlier conviction in New Mexico. It does, however, bring a separate federal case closer to conclusion and formally connects the two killings in the legal record.
How the roadside stop near Tucumcari turned deadly
Hare was on duty early that morning when he pulled over to assist the man on the side of the interstate. Prosecutors said the man had stolen Machado-Fore’s car and driven it all the way from South Carolina to New Mexico before the encounter.
During that stop, Hare was shot and killed. The killing of the New Mexico State Police officer led to a separate guilty plea in January 2025, when the man admitted to murdering Hare. A judge sentenced him four months later, in April.
That New Mexico case already established his responsibility in Hare’s death. The newly announced plea in South Carolina addresses the earlier killing that started the sequence of crimes and helped explain how the defendant moved from one state to another before the interstate stop.
Federal prosecutors had sought the death penalty earlier this year
After the man returned to South Carolina, the U.S. Attorney’s Office sought the death penalty in February, according to the court timeline. Tuesday’s announcement of the guilty plea did not mention that request, leaving the immediate sentencing outcome to the federal court process.
Under the plea agreement described by prosecutors, he faces a mandatory life sentence in federal prison. He also faces a possible fine of up to $250,000.
The case remains before Judge Joseph Dawson III, who will impose sentence after receiving a report from the U.S. Probation Office. That report is part of the normal pre-sentencing process in federal court and will help guide the final punishment.
The plea extends a case already marked by convictions in New Mexico
The New Mexico prosecution moved first. In January 2025, the man pleaded guilty to killing Hare, and the court later sentenced him in April. The South Carolina plea now adds the death of Machado-Fore to the same broader criminal arc.
Because the killings happened in different states, prosecutors handled them separately. Still, the facts described by law enforcement show a single violent path: a fatal attack in South Carolina, the theft of a car, a drive west, and the killing of a state trooper who stopped to help.
That sequence has made the case especially significant for police and prosecutors in both jurisdictions, since it involved an EMS worker, an officer, and a crossing of state lines in a matter of days.
What happens next in Judge Joseph Dawson III’s courtroom
With the guilty plea entered, the remaining step in the South Carolina federal case is sentencing. Judge Joseph Dawson III will wait for the U.S. Probation Office’s report before setting the punishment.
Prosecutors say the mandatory penalty is life in federal prison, and the court could also impose a fine. The sentencing phase will formally close the case on the Machado-Fore killing, even though the New Mexico conviction already addressed Hare’s death.
The announcement does not describe any additional charges beyond the murder plea. For now, the federal court record shows a defendant who has admitted to both killings, while the sentencing process will determine the final legal consequence in South Carolina.
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