Court Watching: Illegal alien kills two with vehicle, nabbed with help of drone

David Armando Palacios-Sanchez, 44, of Detroit was arraigned on seven charges at 34th District Court following the May 28 accident in Sumpter Township that killed one woman and seriously injured another.
He was video-arraigned May 31 by Magistrate Al Hindman while in custody at the Huron Township Police Department. A Spanish interpreter assisted at the arraignment.
The second victim died June 1, so the charges will be updated at the next court session, according to Sumpter police.
Sumpter Township Police Sgt. Bart Devos told the court that his department had just learned that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records indicate the defendant is in the U.S. illegally. He is considered a flight risk and police asked that he be remanded without bond.
The defendant was charged with:
• Operating while intoxicated causing death;
• Reckless driving causing death;
• Operating while intoxicated causing serious injury;
• Reckless driving causing serious impairment of body function;
• Failing to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in serious impairment/death;
• Failing to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in serious impairment/death; and
• Possession of controlled substance (narcotic or cocaine) less than 25 grams.
Magistrate Hindman set $500,000 cash bond and Palacios-Sanchez is being held in the Wayne County Jail. His probable cause conference is June 14. If he manages to post his bond, he must not be released without a GPS tether, Hindman said.
A 49-year-old woman, identified as Reyna Martinez-Hernandez from Rockford, IL, was walking northbound on the east shoulder of Sumpter Road, south of Willow Road, after leaving a big party on May 28 with a 36-year-old woman from Plainfield, NJ.
According to police, Palacios-Sanchez recklessly pulled out of the same party, heading north while driving erraticly and struck one woman. He then hit Martinez-Hernandez who was pinned beneath the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. The defendant crashed into a tree and then ran off. The New Jersey woman was severely injured and taken to a hospital for treatment, where she subsequently died.
Sumpter Township Police said Palcios-Sanchez ran north into woods and was apprehended three hours later using a police drone with an infrared camera.
The defense attorney furnished by the court for the arraignment said that the defendant is 44 years old, has a job in the construction industry, and has four children, ages 19 to 3. He said that was his third day of incarceration.