Driver in hit-and-run killing University of South Carolina student was illegal migrant: DHS

The driver of the vehicle that fatally struck a University of South Carolina student near the school is an illegal migrant, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The accident occurred Wednesday. 

The driver, Rosali  Fernandez-Cruz, 24, from El Salvador, was charged with a hit-and-run resulting in the death of Nate Baker, 21, according to the Columbia Police Department. 

Fernandez-Cruz was also charged with driving without a license, failure to yield the right of way and not giving information and rendering aid, according to Fox News.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote on the social media platform, X, that Fernandez-Cruz fled the scene after hitting Baker.

"Yesterday, 21-year-old USC student Nathanial “Nate” Baker was driving a motorcycle when he was hit by a truck driver who fled the scene," she wrote on X Thursday. "The hit & run driver was in our country illegally."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Fernandez-Cruz was wanted at the time of the crash. He was previously arrested in 2016 in Hidalgo, Texas, by border patrol.