James I. Kent, 34, male, was a deputy with the Union County Sheriff’s Office in New Mexico when he was shot and killed on July 2, 1909, near Chico, Colorado. He and two fellow officers had tracked suspected horse thieves across the state line to a house just outside Chico. As the officers approached, gunfire erupted. Kent was struck and killed, and one of his colleagues was wounded but survived.
In the tense hours that followed, the suspects were surrounded and ultimately surrendered.
Court records noted in contemporary summaries indicate that the 22-year-old shooter was later convicted of manslaughter on March 19, 1910, receiving a sentence of five to seven years before being paroled on April 10, 1913. Kent left behind a wife and an infant son, a brief life cut short in the line of duty as a cross-border pursuit turned fatal at a rural doorstep.
Public remembrances and memorial listings record Kent’s death date and location, aligning with the account that he died by gunfire near Chico while performing his duties. One such record lists his age as 34, matching the period accounts of his end of watch.
