Official: New Mexico ranchers capture Texas homicide suspect

ROSWELL, N.M. – A manhunt for a Texas homicide suspect ended Tuesday in rural southeastern New Mexico when ranchers detained the man at gunpoint and handed him over to sheriff’s deputies, a sheriff’s official said.

Kionne Devaughn Lewis, 29, of Midland was found about 30 miles north of Roswell in an area where officers had searched for Lewis late Monday after he abandoned his vehicle, officials said.

“A couple ranchers had him at gunpoint,” Chaves County Undersheriff Charles Yslas told the Roswell Daily Record.

Lewis had a weapon on him when captured but nobody was injured, Yslas said.

An arrest warrant was issued for Lewis in connection with a double shooting in which a woman was killed in her Midland apartment and a man was wounded, KOSA-TV reported.

Lewis was turned over to New Mexico State Police. That agency confirmed the capture but did not immediately release additional information.

Texas Rangers’ pursuit of Lewis had crossed over into New Mexico on Monday, prompting closure of 12 miles of U.S. 285 north of Roswell as authorities searched for Lewis after he abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot.

The highway was reopened early Tuesday morning.