HINDS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI — A 36-year-old Mississippi man was struck and killed on Interstate 20 on August 20 by a Freightliner tractor-trailer driver who, according to the Department of Homeland Security, is an Indian national residing in the United States illegally and was wearing an ICE GPS monitoring device at the time of the crash.
Mississippi Highway Patrol responded at approximately 1:46 p.m. to the 29-mile marker on westbound I-20. Dedric Garrett, 36, of Terry, Mississippi, had exited his 2016 Honda CR-V and was standing on the interstate when he was struck by the westbound Freightliner driven by Sube Singh, 26, of Fresno, California. Garrett was pronounced dead at the scene. Singh was not injured.
DHS confirmed Singh is a citizen of India in the country without legal authorization. U.S. Border Patrol first encountered Singh on November 19, 2017. He was taken into ICE custody and released on bond in May 2018, at which point ICE enrolled him in its alternatives to detention program, which tracks individuals through GPS monitors including ankle bracelets and wrist-worn devices. Singh had been in that program at the time of the crash.
No charges had been announced as of the latest update. The Mississippi Highway Patrol investigation is ongoing.
The crash drew national attention and political response. “Dedric Garrett lost his life at the hands of an illegal alien who was driving an 18 wheeler,” Rep. Troy Nehls wrote on X. “If you are in our country illegally or can’t speak and understand English, you have no business operating an 80,000-pound semi-truck.”
DHS said the department “is aggressively working with its interagency partners to get illegal alien commercial drivers off the road” and called it “incredibly dangerous for illegal aliens, who often don’t know our traffic laws or even English, to be operating vehicles on America’s roads.”
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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