An illegal immigrant has been accused of murder after reportedly being granted deferred action under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, 27, a Mexican national, was staying in the U.S illegally until he was granted deferred action under the DACA program in November of 2013, Fox News reported. The program is supposed to help children brought to the country illegally by their parents.

A source told Breitbart that Vazquez illegally entered the U.S. in June 2001 when he was 10 years old.

His legal status was set to expire in November of 2015. His request for renewal was denied in August of 2016 because of abandonment, according to documents, which means he may have failed to show up for a required appearance or didn’t respond to a request for information.

According to a charging document, Vazquez, who works as a scalloper, was on a fishing vessel called Captain Billy Haver with six other crew members when he attacked a crew member while holding a hammer in one hand and a knife in the other. The boat was 55 miles off the coast of Nantucket.

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JUST IN: This is our first look at Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, the Mexican national arrested for murder aboard a fishing vessel off the coast of Nantucket https://t.co/oCjCtyS0on pic.twitter.com/eszEWDuBUr — Mike Saccone (@mikesacconetv) September 25, 2018

According to Newsweek, the criminal complaint stated that the U.S. Coast Guard and a German cruise ship responded to a distress call at around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 23.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard released audio of the call for help made by the Billy Haver’s captain after the ambush, The Boston Globe reported.

The captain repeatedly asked over the radio, “Can anybody hear me?”

Do you think Vazquez qualified for DACA? Yes No Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use You're logged in to Facebook. Click here to log out. 4% (8 Votes) 96% (198 Votes)

“We have a man gone crazy here on the boat, man … One of the crew members went crazy. He started hitting people in the head with a hammer. I got three men that’s injured right now,” the captain said over the radio. “One, I can’t wake him up. I don’t know if he’s dead or not.”

A nearby cruise ship responded to the distress call and took aboard two wounded crew members, where one was pronounced dead by the ship’s doctor.

Vazquez was charged with one count of murder and another count of attempted murder. During his Wednesday court appearance, he was ordered to be held without bail. His public defender asked for a probable cause hearing, scheduled for some time next week.

This was not Vazquez’s first run-in with the law, according to Newsweek. In March, Vazquez was arrested and charged for abduction by force, intimidation or deception. Despite objections from the ICE, he was released on $20,000 bond.

The charges against Vazquez arose from his alleged abuse of his wife, an unnamed 19-year-old U.S citizen.

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The wife’s parents claimed that Vazquez physical assaulted their daughter in March.

“My daughter pushed back and Freddy dragged her up the stairs by her hair and choked her; she was basically tortured,” the wife’s father, Shelby McDannold, an army veteran, told Newsweek. “She would go in and out of consciousness and he would choke her again.”

The McDannold’s daughter gathered enough strength after the alleged attack to call a friend to bring her to safety.

“Marks on her neck, broken blood vessels on her face from blacking out, bruises on her arms and on her side, discoloration on her chest for when he was beating and sitting on her,” Lindsay McDannold said, describing her daughter’s injuries. “It was very hard as a mom to have her daughter showing bruises that he created.”

According to Mr. and Mrs. McDannold, Vazquez had lied about his age and legal status. He claimed to be 23 when he was 27, and allegedly signed his 2017 marriage certificate with a “fake Social Security number.”

Lindsay McDannold said her daughter didn’t know he was in the states illegally. “It wasn’t until after they were married she found out he wasn’t an American citizen.”

According to her parents, their daughter shared other alleged incidents where Vazquez assaulted her, including one where he “put a knife to her throat.”

After Vazquez’s March arrest, he went to the Norfolk City Jail in Virginia where ICE officials flagged his case to try to gain custody of him. The judge for his case instead released him on bond.

Newsweek reported that ICE said in a statement, “Despite ICE’s objections, an immigration judge granted (Vazquez) bond. ICE had to release him from custody April 27 after he posted bond.”

The McDannolds say this wasn’t the last time their family heard of the alleged domestic abuser, saying once Vazquez got out he threatened his wife.

“He and his family followed her around … he also threatened to kill her and my son and my wife if (my daughter) went to the cops,” Shelby McDannold said.

The McDannolds are now grieving for the victims from Vazquez’s recent attacks.

“It’s a travesty,” Shelby McDannold said. “How these families are going to feel about a murderer who was in ICE custody and they let him go.”

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