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An illegal alien who was living in the United States under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status was charged with killing four people after allegedly driving the wrong way while intoxicated on a highway before striking another vehicle, Oklahoma authorities said.
Michael Rosario-Cruz, 27, was released from a hospital and booked into the Canadian County Jail on a slew of charges, including four counts of second-degree murder, two counts of DUI causing great bodily injury, transporting an open container, firearm possession, carrying firearms while under the influence and driving the wrong way on a one-way road.
Rosario-Cruz, who had been drinking at a local bar, was driving westbound early Friday in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 in Canadian County, when he struck another vehicle head-on, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.
Authorities say they found empty beer bottles inside Rosario-Cruz's car. He does not have a prior criminal record, police said.
ICE ARRESTS RELEASED ILLEGAL ALIEN ACCUSED OF KILLING DAUGHTER, 9, IN ARIZONA ROLLOVER CRASH
Michael Rosario-Cruz, 27, is accused of killing four people while driving on the wrong side of the road while intoxicated. (Oklahoma Highway Patrol)
All four people in the struck vehicle, which caught fire, were killed. They ranged in age from 18 to 20, authorities said. The victims were identified as Kiercey Hickson, 20, Quincy Jones, 19, and Haleigh Salazar and Brad Palmer, both 18.
"Driving impaired is a reckless, life-changing decision," the Highway Patrol said in a social media post announcing the charges. "The loss of these young lives will have a lasting impact on countless family members, friends, and communities."
Rosario-Cruz was granted DACA status in 2015 during the Obama administration, Tim Tipton, the commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety (DPS), said Wednesday.
He was also granted a work authorization permit, Tipton said. Rosario-Cruz lives in Memphis, Tennessee, but was working in Oklahoma for a utility contracting company at the time of the murders, Tipton noted.
"This murder took place with somebody who should never have been in this country … who was here illegally," he said at a news conference.
Michael Rosario-Cruz, 27, is the subject of an ICE detainer request, authorities said. (Oklahoma Highway Patrol; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol told Fox News Digital Rosario-Cruz is the subject of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer request, meaning ICE has asked to be notified when he is released from custody so it can arrest him and begin deportation proceedings.
"Our goal is that this person should never see freedom here again in the United States," said Tipton.
Fox News Digital has reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The four victims were recently remembered at a vigil at El Reno High School, where three of them had recently graduated, News9 reported.
A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol told Fox News Digital that Rosario-Cruz is the subject of an ICE detainer request. (Oklahoma Highway Patrol)
Nancy Salsman, a retired teacher, said three of the victims were once students in her second grade classroom.
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"You just make that connection that never goes away," she told the news outlet. "They’re always your kids. And when something like this happens, we come together."
