The suspect accused of murdering a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football player was in the United States illegally and had been shielded from deportation by multiple administrations, according to federal law enforcement sources.

Nigerian national Chukwunonso David Uzoma-Eze, 19, is charged with stabbing two UMass Dartmouth football players near a Providence, Rhode Island, nightclub early Saturday. Both victims were taken to the hospital, where 18-year-old Marvins Antoine later died. The altercation began in line outside Mezzo Lounge and spilled into a Wendy’s parking lot across the street, Providence police said. Authorities arrested Uzoma-Eze, also a UMass Dartmouth student, on campus.

Uzoma-Eze entered the country legally in 2015 on a tourist visa but overstayed. In September 2022, the Biden administration approved his request for deferred action, delaying his deportation. He applied for a work permit in August 2023; that request was denied the following month.

He sought deferred action again in February 2025 and a third time in October 2025. The Trump administration granted the most recent request on Oct. 8, 2025. A subsequent work-permit application based on that deferred action remains pending.

Uzoma-Eze now faces a murder charge. A conviction would strip him of protections from deportation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer and expects to take custody after the Rhode Island proceedings.

Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey walked away Friday when a reporter asked whether her policies contributed to the stabbing and whether the state should cooperate more closely with ICE.