25 years ago, Sheriff Deputy Kelly Clark was transporting an inmate when he managed to squeeze through the sliding Plexiglas window in the divider between the front and back of the cruiser and grab Deputy Clark’s weapon. During the ensuing struggle, the suspect gained control of her weapon and shot her twice in the head with it. The cruiser then struck a truck and crashed, at which time the suspect fled and carjacked another vehicle.
Deputy Clark, an Indiana native, began working at the Sierra County jail in September 1990. The following June she was promoted to deputy sheriff, and she was Sierra County’s only female on an 11-deputy force.
Deputy Clark left Sierra County Jail to drive the inmate to the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants. What should have been a simple 3 hour drive ended in absolute tragedy.
The inmate was arrested shortly thereafter when he stopped to make a phone call near a convenience store.
Clark had lived in Truth or Consequences for the past eight years with her only child, a 15-year-old Hot Springs High School sophomore. Her daughter sat among family members and Clark’s fiance, state police officer Santiago Hernandez, in the front row during the service.
Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley was among people attending the gathering. Sierra County Sheriff Terry Byers sat quietly in the back of the room. Fellow Deputy Peter Bowidowicz recalled many talks with Clark over morning decaf.
“As a deputy she was meticulous, energetic, thorough, but most of all a professional. Her main concern was to give the best law enforcement, no matter the job, the individual, the race, the stature, the significance or the relation.
Another memorial and Honor Guard service was set the following morning at Hot Springs High School football stadium, followed by a processional through nearby Williamsburg and back through town.
44th legislature – STATE OF NEW MEXICO – first special session, 1999
HONORING OUR P0LICE OFFICERS AND JOINING WITH THE GOVERNOR IN PROCLAIMING THIS DAY NEW MEXICO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER DAY.
WHEREAS, police officers risk their lives every day in the line of duty to serve and protect the citizens of New Mexico; and
WHEREAS, police officers give true witness to the belief that there is no greater love than that a man lay down his life for his friends; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico’s law enforcement officers are the thin blue line between law-abiding citizens and an increasingly dangerous criminal element; and
WHEREAS, this week of May has been declared National Police Memorial Week; and
WHEREAS, more than one hundred fifty-one police officers nationwide have been killed in the line of duty this year; and
WHEREAS, Officer Kelly F. Clark, Sierra county deputy sheriff and the only New Mexican officer to die in the line of duty this year, was killed March 4, 1999, during the regular legislative session, while transporting a prisoner; and
WHEREAS, the New Mexico legislature honors officer Kelly F. Clark and all the officers who risk their lives for all of us;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislature join with the governor in declaring May 11 New Mexico Law Enforcement Officer Day in New Mexico; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the chief of the New Mexico state police and the president of the appropriate police officers’ associations.
