The man accused of killing a young Denver lawyer in an October hit-and-run collision had been deported in 2007 only to return illegally to the U.S., where he was arrested twice before the deadly crash, authorities say.

Norlan Estrada-Reyes, 27, who was born in Sulaco, Honduras, had twice been accused of crimes in Denver, including driving under the influence. After a 2013 arrest, he posted bond and was released before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reached him. In the other case, in 2014, ICE was not aware of his arrest.

Then, on Oct. 30, police say he was behind the wheel of a full-size Ford pickup truck that struck and killed 28-year-old Karina Pulec as she was crossing the street at East 13th Avenue and Broadway, dragging her 50 feet.

Pulec died at the scene. The pickup was found less than a mile away, unoccupied though still in drive.

Estrada-Reyes’ case is the second in the past four months in which a person in the country illegally, who had previous run-ins with police, has been accused in a Denver killing. They feed into the national debate about immigration that heated up Tuesday with the release of documents showing plans by President Donald Trump’s administration to widely expand the number of people who are considered a priority for deportation.

The Homeland Security Department memos — a sweeping rewrite of the nation’s immigration enforcement priorities — explain that any immigrant living in the United States illegally who is a suspect in a crime or has been charged or convicted will be an enforcement priority. That could include people arrested for shoplifting or minor traffic offenses.

The other Denver case involves Ever Valles, 19, who was released from the Denver jail in October after immigration officials flagged him as an enforcement priority. Police say on Feb. 7 that Valles, a known gang member, and another 19-year-old were involved in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Tim Cruz during a robbery at a light rail station.

Valles, a Mexican citizen, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Colorado jailers say they lack the authority under state law to hold inmates solely because of their immigration status.

The Denver Sheriff Department on Tuesday called Cruz’s death a tragedy and said in a statement that law enforcement must “focus on creating a system where federal and local governments respect each other’s responsibilities and work together to close the gaps. Denver is committed to that effort.”

Estrada-Reyes turned himself in to police on Nov. 3 and was charged with felony hit-and-run involving death, driving without proof of insurance and careless driving resulting in Pulec’s death.

According to federal court documents, immigration officers interviewed him Nov. 5 and issued an immigration detainer.

The Denver Sheriff Department says it notified ICE at 1:25 a.m. on Nov. 12 — as the agency had asked — that Estrada-Reyes was set to be released. He was freed at 7 p.m. that day. He had posted bail late on Nov. 11.

“Due to the Denver (Sheriff Department) local policy, the detainer was not honored and Estrada was released from custody to the streets,” according to the federal records.

It wasn’t until Dec. 5 that immigration officers arrested Estrada-Reyes outside the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse downtown after a court appearance in Pulec’s death. On Jan. 13, Colorado’s U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint in federal court accusing him of illegally re-entering the country and he was later indicted on the charge.

Estrada-Reyes was deported to Honduras on Oct. 1, 2007, when he was 18 years old.

Six years later, in Denver, he was accused of making a false report and, on May 4, 2013, was fingerprinted by the Denver Sheriff’s Department. The next day, ICE was notified that his fingerprints had been recorded, but Estrada-Reyes had already posted bond and been released from jail.

Estrada-Reyes did not qualify as an enforcement priority at the time, according to federal court documents: “As such, the case was not forwarded to the fugitive operations team, an official investigation was not continued and Estrada was not pursued.”

Federal authorities say that Estrada-Reyes was also issued a summons by Denver police June 9, 2014, on suspicion of driving under the influence and driving without a license or insurance. He was not booked into jail, according to the complaint. Therefore ICE was not notified.

Estrada-Reyes pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the DUI case and went on to complete supervised probation and community service, according to the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

Messages left for ICE representatives this week were not returned.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado does not oversee deportation proceedings, stepping in only when immigration officers flag a person living in the country illegally who has a criminal history. Over the past 20 years, about 30 to 40 percent of the office’s criminal case filings were made up of people who illegally re-entered the U.S. after being deported.

Of those roughly 100 cases each year, about 10 are people who are not convicted felons but who immigration officials feel are a public safety threat. Estrada-Reyes now falls into that category, acting U.S. attorney Bob Troyer said.

“I would say our job is to do everything we can to keep Colorado safe and to make sure neighborhoods and communities are protected from people who have proven their inclination to harm those communities,” Troyer said Tuesday. “It’s not our business to deal with deportation or deportation policy. What we do is an overlay on top of whatever is happening with ICE.”

By September 2014, all of Colorado’s jails had stopped holding immigrants while federal agents decided whether to take them into custody for possible immigration violations. That came after the American Civil Liberties Union pressured county jails to reject ICE holds because Colorado sheriffs don’t have the authority under state law to keep suspects who are in the country illegally in jail past the time they normally would be released.

ICE routinely had been asking county sheriffs to hold people in jail for up to five days beyond their usual release time. Between October 2011 and August 2013, ICE issued more than 8,700 detainer requests to Colorado jails.

While the state’s jails won’t hold people without a warrant, they still are in regular contact with immigration officials.

The Denver Sheriff Department says it gets three to five requests each week from ICE for notifications about when an inmate is going to be released. Roughly 100 people are released each day from the department’s two facilities, which on Tuesday had an inmate population of about 2,300.

“We don’t ask people about their immigration status,” Denver Sheriff’s spokesman Simon Crittle said in an e-mail. “However, we do ask their place of birth.”

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office says it is in routine contact with ICE, sending along the names of inmates born outside the U.S. or who lack citizenship records — about 650 last year, according to the Daily Camera.

“We don’t investigate immigration status. We don’t ask people about immigration status,” Sheriff Joe Pelle told the Camera. “It’s up to ICE what they do with that list.”

Natalie Sosa, a spokeswoman for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, said all inmates at the agency’s jail are asked for their place of birth, social security number and driver’s license. If they lack the last two, their names are entered into a query system that notifies immigration officials. The Weld County Sheriff’s Office says it uses a similar process.

Pulec, who graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder with a double major before going on to attend Cornell Law School, is survived by her boyfriend and parents, according to her obituary. Hogan Lovells said Pulec worked at the international law firm’s Denver office.

Estrada-Reyes is being held in federal custody without bail pending the outcome of the federal immigration case. He is scheduled to enter a plea and be sentenced on Feb. 27. The federal public defenders listed as Estrada-Reyes’ attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

He faces up to two years in federal prison and probably will be deported for the second time.

In the hit-and-run case, Estrada-Reyes is due back in Denver court March 3 for an arraignment. His lawyer, Susan Lozow, declined to comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.