An unlawful immigrant who killed a College of South Carolina pupil in a horrific hit-and-run crash was quietly handed a slap-on-the-wrist sentence this summer time — regardless of the tragedy sparking nationwide outrage.
Rosali Fernandez-Cruz, 24, has been serving out his one-year stint at Kirkland Correctional Establishment in Columbia since August, when three of his costs have been discreetly dropped and he pleaded responsible to the remaining most severe depend for killing 21-year-old Nathaniel Baker, in accordance with jail data and stories.
“The decide determined the sentence, which was one yr,” a spokesperson for Republican South Carolina Legal professional Basic Alan Wilson informed Fox Information, including that Baker’s forgiving household was consulted earlier than the lenient sentence was given and needed to maintain the settlement hush-hush.
“They didn’t need this to be politicized or extremely publicized. They have been in settlement with the responsible plea and sentence.”
Fernandez-Cruz, a local of El Salvador who has been on the run from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement since 2018, was additionally credited with 131 days served — regardless of deadly hit-and-runs carrying as much as a 25-year most sentence within the Palmetto State, The State reported.
He’s anticipated to stroll free on March 2, 2026, in accordance with the South Carolina Division of Corrections.
Wilson’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to The Submit’s request for remark.
Fernandez-Cruz was nabbed shortly after failing to yield and hanging Baker, a USC junior and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity member, who was driving his motorbike close to the school’s Columbia campus.
The careless motorist, who was allegedly driving with out a license, fled the scene and later deserted his pickup truck earlier than being captured by a close-by cop — who then notified ICE of the arrest after his title was discovered within the Nationwide Crime Data Heart database, police stated on the time.
Fernandez-Cruz illegally crossed the US-Mexico border on an unknown date and was later arrested by Border Patrol in Texas in 2016, a Division of Homeland Safety supply informed The Submit in April.
Two years later, a North Carolina immigration decide ordered that he be despatched again to his residence nation.
The migrant was charged with hit-and-run leading to demise, failure to provide info and render help, failure to yield the appropriate of means, and driving with out a license.
He solely pleaded responsible to hit-and-run leading to demise — with the opposite costs reportedly dismissed.
It’s unclear whether or not he will probably be deported again to El Salvador as soon as his jail time period is full.
DHS and ICE didn’t instantly reply to The Submit’s request for remark.
