When Slaughter shouted for the two men to get up, a gunfight ensued, in which Guadalupe Robles, who had otherwise been an upstanding citizen, joined in. He was immediately shot and killed.

Manuel Robels and Deron tried to run away while still blasting their six-guns. One bullet caught Slaughter's ear, who returned the fire, killing Nieves Deron. Manuel Robels; though seriously wounded by a shot from Burton Alvord, was able to escape. Soon, the leader of the gang, Jack Taylor was arrested in Sonora, and Manuel Robles, along with Geronimo Miranda, were killed by the Mexican police in the Sierra Madre mountains.

During his first term, Slaughter also assisted the United States Cavalry against Geronimo's Apaches. So successful was Slaughter in his role of sheriff, he was reelected in 1888.

In the meantime, Slaughter's deputy Burton Alvord's efficiency as a lawman began to slip by 1889 as his drinking had increased. Frequenting the many saloons of Tombstone, Alvord started to socialize with some of the criminal elements and was known to get into frequent scuffles. As Slaughter began to chastise his actions, Alvord soured on both the sheriff and the law. Alvord soon moved on, but Slaughter would receive criticism for ever having hired the man, especially when he turned full-blown outlaw at the end of the century.

By 1890, the lawless Cochise County had been mostly tamed and Slaughter retired from law enforcement to tend to his ranch.

In 1906, Slaughter served briefly in the territorial assembly, but concentrated primarily on his business investments and his ranch. Eventually he bought a meat market in Charleston and two butcher shops in Bisbee. So wise were his investments throughout the years that he also began to act as a "banker” for his neighbors, loaning money for mortgages when needed.

In his later years, his health began to deteriorate as he suffered from eczema on his hands and feet and high blood pressure. He died in his sleep at Douglas, Arizona, on February 16, 1922, after complaining of a headache the previous evening. He was buried at the Cavalry Cemetery in Douglas, Arizona.