A Mexican national is accused of killing one of his crewmates and injuring two others while on board a fishing vessel off the coast of Massachusetts, Sunday afternoon.

Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, 27, was charged in federal court in Boston with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, said Christina DiLorio-Sterling, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.

Vazquez, who was in the country illegally after being deported about six months ago, is being charged with attacking three members of a fishing crew with a knife and a hammer while aboard the vessel Captain Billy Haver. One of the men later died of his injuries, she said.

The names of the victims have not been released, which is standard protocol in the early stages of an investigation for the U.S. District Attorney's office, she said.

Vazquez was part of a seven-member crew who were fishing about 55 miles off the coast of Massachusetts.

One of the crew members said he heard a commotion coming from the deck. When he ran around a corner to find out what was happening, he was struck three times in the back of the head with a hammer, United States Coast Guard Investigative Service Special Agent Brian Parkerson said in an application for a criminal complaint.

While lying on the deck, the witness saw another crew member bleeding from his mouth on the deck a few feet away. That man later died, Parkerson said.

Soon after a third crew member climbed from the ice hold. He was also struck with a hammer, Parkerson said.

"It is further alleged that Vazquez then climbed up the mast of the ship as the others onboard tried to capture him," DiLorio-Sterling said in writing.

After the attacks, the captain put out a distress call and a German cruise ship responded. Two of the people who were wounded were brought aboard the Mein Schiff 6 and tended to by the ship's doctor. One man, who had visible stab wounds to his torso and wounds to the head, was pronounced dead, she said.

Vazquez was taken into custody, she said.

He had been deported from the United States this spring after being arrested on March 9, in Newport News, Virginia and charged with abduction by force, intimidation or deception. In April he was placed in immigration proceedings and released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on April 23, Parkerson said in the affidavit.

Lelling; Richard D. Cox, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S Coast Guard Investigative Services Northeast Region; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston made the announcement Monday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers is prosecuting the case.