An illegal immigrant driver faces four counts of second-degree murder and other charges in Oklahoma after killing a car full of young adults in a suspected drunk-driving crash.
Michael Salomon Rosario-Cruz, 26, from Mexico, was driving the wrong way on Interstate 40 in Canadian County, Oklahoma, around 12:30 a.m. May 22 when he collided head-on with another vehicle.
The impact of the collision caused the victims’ car to catch fire and killed the occupants inside. The victims ranged in age from 18 and 20 years old.
Rosario-Cruz was also driving with empty beer bottles and a firearm in his vehicle, authorities said.
Michael Salomon Rosario-Cruz is NOT a ‘Mississippi Man’ — he is a criminal illegal alien who KILLED four young Americans while driving under the influence.
Once again, @TheOklahoman_ and the mainstream media are running cover for a criminal illegal MONSTER. https://t.co/mZeDioamkf pic.twitter.com/4lEyoZ1aJC
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 29, 2026
After being released from the hospital, Rosario-Cruz was arrested and booked into the Canadian County Jail on a slew of charges plus an immigration detainer hold.
He faces four counts of second-degree murder, two counts of DUI causing great bodily injury, transporting an open container, possession of a firearm with an altered identification during the commission of a felony, carrying firearms while under the influence, and driving the wrong way on a one-way road.
The crash occurred on I-40 near Yukon, Okla., a community 16 miles west of Oklahoma City and about 15 miles east of El Reno, Okla., where three of the victims lived and recently graduated high school.
Authorities identified the driver as 20-year-old Kiercy Hickson of Stillwater, and the passengers as 19-year-old Quincy Jones, 18-year-old Haliegh Salazar and 18-year-old Brad Palmer, all of El Reno, Okla.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged an immigration detainer asking officials in Oklahoma not to release the driver involved in the fiery crash.
Rosario-Cruz entered the country illegally at an unknown date and time, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“Four young Americans had their lives taken in Oklahoma by a criminal illegal alien who recklessly drove drunk,” said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who is from Oklahoma. “These young men and women had their whole lives ahead of them. This tragedy was completely preventable.”
Rosario-Cruz is not a legal citizen of the United States and was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status in 2015, along with a work authorization permit, said Tim Tipton, the commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, per Fox News Digital.
Rosario-Cruz lives in Memphis, Tennessee, but was working in Oklahoma for a utility contracting company at the time of the quadruple fatality, Tipton said.
On Wednesday, officials confirmed that Rosario-Cruz was likely impaired at the time of the crash, FOX 25 reported. Tipton called it “an intentional act” during a news conference.
The public safety commissioner did not mince words regarding Rosario-Cruz’s actions or immigration status.
“This murder took place with somebody who should never have been in this country … who was here illegally,” he said at a news conference. “Our goal is that this person should never see freedom here again in the United States.”
Authorities believe Rosario-Cruz had been drinking at a local bar. The head-on collision occurred after he got on I-40 and drove westbound in the eastbound lanes in Canadian County, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.
During a news conference, Tipton said police began receiving calls about a wrong-way driver on I-40 and troopers were in pursuit and “were just seconds behind him whenever the collision happened.”
“This isn’t an accident. This is the murder of four young kids, three of them that just graduated the week before from high school,” Tipton said. “This is an intentional act. This defendant in this case made the decision, intentional decision to go and drink at a local bar, restaurant, then get on the interstate, still impaired and getting on the wrong direction in a large vehicle, a truck.”
