The 59-year-old Huntsville man charged with murder in a predawn crash Monday that killed two young sisters is a well-known and highly-decorated retired NASA astronaut.

James Donald Halsell Jr., a five-flight veteran who was selected by NASA in 1991 to become an astronaut, was arrested Monday in the deaths of Niomi Deona James, 11, and Jayla Latrice Parler, 13. The family had just picked up the girls from Texas for summer vacation with their father and were almost home when the crash happened.

He was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail at 11 a.m. Monday and released at 6:30 p.m.after posting $150,000 bond. His mugshot was either never posted on the jail's website, or was removed before authorities announced his arrest. The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office released the mugshot this morning.

Multiple attempts to reach Halsell or family members at his Huntsville home have been unsuccessful.

The accident happened at 2:50 a.m. Monday on U.S. 82 near the 65 mile marker, 10 miles east of Tuscaloosa, said Senior Trooper Reginal King. Niomi and Jayla, both of Brent, were passengers in a 2015 Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta was struck by a 2015 Chrysler 300 driven by Halsell.

King said neither of the girls were wearing seatbelts and were thrown from the vehicle. Niomi was pronounced dead on the scene. Jayla was taken to DCH Regional Medical Center where she was also pronounced dead.

The driver of the Ford, 37-year-old Pernell Deon James and another passenger, 25-year-old Shontel Latriva Cutts, were also taken to the hospital for their injuries. Authorities said James was the father of both girls, who were half-sisters.

King said Halsell was arrested and charged with murder after the preliminary investigation showed that alcohol and speed may have been factors in the crash.

Tuscaloosa County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Cross said a deposition in the case written by a trooper said Halsell was on his way to pick up his son in Louisiana. He crashed into the back of the James' family's Ford Fiesta, pushing it across the median and causing it to flip twice.

Troopers, according to the deposition, later searched Halsell's Motel 6 room, finding an empty bottle of wine and an empty 10-pack of sleeping pills. Halsell told investigators he didn't remember the crash and asked to see the victim's bodies.

One witness, according to the deposition, told troopers Halsell tried to the leave the scene of the crash. "Halsell's speech was slurred, eyes were dialated, clothes disheveled and he was unstable on his feet and smelled of alcohol,'' Cross confirmed the deposition reads.

Halsell, a West Monroe, Louisiana native, received a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1978, a Master of Science degree in management from Troy University in 1983, and a Master of Science degree in space operations from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1985, according to his NASA biography.

While with NASA, he was the recipient of multiple awards. An F-4 pilot qualified in conventional and nuclear weapons deliveries, he served at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas from 1980 until 1981, and Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, from 1982 through 1984. In 1984-1985, he was a graduate student at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. He then attended the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and during the next four years he performed test flights in the F-4, the F-16, and the SR-71 aircraft.

Among his many assignments, Halsell served as manager of Shuttle Launch Integration at Kennedy Space Center. Following the Columbia accident, Halsell led NASA's Space Shuttle Return-to-Flight Planning Team. He then served as the Assistant Director for Aircraft Operations, Flight Crew Operations Directorate. Halsell retired from the Air Force in July 2004, and retired from NASA in November 2006 to accept a position with ATK Launch Systems.