Garrett, Pat (1850-1908), an American frontier rancher and sheriff in the West, is best known for killing the outlaw Billy the Kid (see Billy the Kid). Garrett was elected sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, in 1880. As sheriff, he captured his one-time friend Billy the Kid, who had been accused of murder. The Kid escaped from jail just before he was to be hanged. In July 1881, Garrett caught up with him in Fort Sumner, a military post near the town of Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and shot him to death from ambush in a darkened house.