Stretch of I-10 dedicated as memorial for slain officer

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A stretch of Interstate 10 in Luna County in southwestern New Mexico is now a memorial corridor honoring a New Mexico State Officer killed in the line of duty last February.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the State Transportation Commission voted unanimously Thursday to approve the 18-mile memorial for Officer Darian Jarrott.

The 28-year-old Lordsburg resident was killed near Deming while conducting a traffic stop of a pickup driven by Omar Felix Cueva, a drug trafficking suspect under investigation by federal Homeland Security Investigations.

Cueva opened fire, killing Jarrott. Cueva drove off but was killed in a gunfight with law enforcement officers.