Friends, family remember J.R. Stewart a year after his tragic death

Friends and family remembered retired Las Cruces Police Officer JR Stewart a year after he was killed during a high-speed pursuit.

JR’s wife Rosie Stewart spoke to family, friends and members of the LCPD – all gathered at the police headquarters for a photo.

JR’s nephew Ryan Stewart told ABC-7, “If one thing to take away from my uncle and one thing that I wish everyone really knows about him is how much he gave back to the community, how much the city of las cruces meant to him.”

After the picture, friends and family met at the site of the crash and released balloons.

ABC-7 asked JR’s fellow police officer, John Guaderrama, what is the best thing he remembers about JR. “His heart, he was such a giving person and everybody that knew him knew that, and he would drop anything in a second to help anybody out,” Guaderrama said.

On November 27, 2017, the police chase began around 2:00 p.m. Officials said a tan GMC pickup entered the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 10 west of Las Cruces.

Border Patrol agents found that the vehicle license plate was reported stolen in Colorado on November 25, 2017. The vehicle itself was reported as stolen out of Colorado on November 9, 2017, and that the license plate did not belong to the vehicle.

When the driver, 34-year-old Daniel Allen Lowell, was asked for identification, he allegedly told agents he did not have any. A woman in the car with Lowell, 32-year-old Trista Marie Schlaefli, allegedly provided a stolen driver’s license and the male was asked to pull over into the secondary lane.

That’s when the couple allegedly took off in the vehicle, leading Border Patrol agents on a chase heading the wrong way, going west on the eastbound lanes of I-10.

Border Patrol followed and observed the suspects allegedly carjack a gray Toyota 4-Runner at gunpoint near mile post 104.

Officials said the suspects took off again in the vehicle, this time eastbound on Interstate 10 toward Las Cruces.

Border Patrol agents pursued the vehicle, but lost visuals after the vehicle exited at Motel Boulevard.

NMSP investigators interviewed the carjacking victims. The victims said they were going east on 1-10 when they saw a tan pickup cross over into the eastbound lanes nearly hitting a tractor trailer.

The victim stopped to avoid a crash when the male and female suspects approached his vehicle. The victim said the male had a black handgun and ordered them to exit the vehicle. He removed the victim’s children, ages seven and two, and his wife.

Around 5:00 p.m., Las Cruces Police patrol units spotted the vehicle at the corner of Walnut and Lohman in Las Cruces. The suspects led officers on a pursuit throughout the city. The pursuit continued onto both Interstates 10 and 25, reaching speeds up to 110 miles per hour.

Officials said at one point the driver entered Interstate 25 at University driving southbound in the northbound lanes. The suspect turned west and drove through the barbed wire fence onto Las Alturas Drive where he struck Stewart, riding his motorcycle at the time.

Stewart was taken to Mountain View Hospital and later died from his injuries. Police said Stewart was not involved in the pursuit and was merely an innocent bystander.

New Mexico State Police officers located the suspects at the intersection of Las Alturas and Sotol Drive. The suspects were allegedly attempting to carjack another vehicle when they were taken into custody.

Lowell and Schlaefli, both of Colorado Springs, Colorado, were arrested and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center.

Lowell was charged with numerous crimes, including homicide by vehicle, child abuse, armed robbery, aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, concealing identity, leaving the scene of a crash, and receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle. Investigators said that at the time of his arrest, Daniel also had several separate arrest warrants out of Colorado for numerous charges, including attempted murder, burglary, felony evading, and identity theft.

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Schlaefli was charged with homicide by vehicle, armed robbery, aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer, concealing identity, attempt to commit a violent felony (robbery), and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle.