'You're a drunk, a liar, a murderer and a coward,' widow tells man who killed Uber dr
'You're a drunk, a liar, a murderer and a coward,' widow tells man who killed Uber driver
Ryan Martin, Indianapolis Star Published 2:45 p.m. ET Sept. 21, 2018 | Updated 4:35 p.m. ET Sept. 21, 2018
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Photo: Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar)
The widow of an Uber driver killed by a drunken driver lashed out at the man who took her husband's life during his sentencing Friday, saying justice was not served.
"You're a drunk, a liar, a murderer and a coward," Deborah Monroe said to Manuel Orrego-Savala. "You didn't even have the decency to pull his dead body from the road before you ran."
Orrego-Savala, a 37-year-old Guatemalan man, was sentenced to 16 years in state prison for the drunken driving deaths of Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson, 26, and Uber driver Jeffrey Monroe, 54.
He was arrested in February after police said he crashed a Ford F-150 pickup truck into a vehicle stopped on the shoulder of I-70. His blood-alcohol content was nearly three times the legal limit.
Orrego-Savala pleaded guilty July 20 to two counts of causing death of another person when operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 percent or more.
Deborah Monroe: 'I'm empty inside'
During the sentencing, Deborah Monroe sat quietly in the front row, occasionally suppressing a sniffle before revisiting the printed pages of prepared remarks she clutched at her lap.
About 12 other loved ones — siblings, nieces, nephews and friends, some from as far away as Las Vegas — joined her. Some paused at her side, offering a hand on her shoulder and a hug.
Just behind her, another family member held a black-and-white portrait of Deborah and Jeffrey smiling, contained in a thick black frame. The picture was taken during the celebration of their 21st wedding anniversary in Venice.
Uber was a second job for Jeffrey Monroe. The extra money helped pay for their travel abroad.
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Deborah Monroe carried this portrait of her and her husband, Jeffrey, into the sentencing of Manuel Orrego-Savala on Friday. The portrait was taken during their 21st wedding anniversary which they celebrated in Venice. (Photo: Ryan Martin/IndyStar)
She carried his portrait with her to the front of the court and rested it along a ledge when she sat beside the judge.
"He was my everything," Deborah told the court. "He was the love of my life."
But now, she said, she can't go anywhere in Indianapolis without thinking of Jeffrey because he died on one of the city's main roads.
"Every time I go by there, I see his blood on the road," she said.
She's now selling her home. She's moving away from the state where she was born and raised. She has to leave, she said, because of what Orrego-Savala did.
"I'm empty inside," she told him.
Ignoring the pages in front of her, Deborah Monroe stared directly at Orrego-Savala. "I was almost ready to forgive you.
"Then I read the autopsy report. I will never, never forgive you."
Edwin Jackson's mother: 'Our hearts have been ripped apart'
Mary Ellen Jackson, the mother of Edwin Jackson, spoke while his father, sister, brother, roommates, agent, godfather and an Indianapolis Colts representative sat nearby.
Reading from a page, she kept her composure while addressing the court.
Edwin Jackson was an obedient son. A mentor to his family. A best friend to each of his siblings. A treasured teammate.
"Edwin was a lighthouse," she said. "His character was unwavering."
He was an athlete on the outside, she said. "And on the inside was a heart of gold."
That's why he created the Edwin Jackson 53 Foundation, which helps underpriviliged youth and student athletes.
He knew what name he was representing on the back of his jersey, she said.
"Our hearts have been ripped apart and are always missing a beat now," Mary Ellen Jackson said. "We pray for justice from the courts."
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Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson killed on I-70
Orrego-Savala: 'Please God forgive me'
Orrego-Savala, dressed in orange jail garb with his cuffed hands in his lap, blankly stared at the table in front of him for most of the hearing. An interpreter sat next to him, repeating the painful words coming from the victims' families.
He did not address the court on Friday. But in an Aug. 19 letter to Marion Superior Judge Grant Hawkins, Orrego-Savala said he struggles with alcohol and asked for forgiveness.
"I can't believe I've done this to another person," he wrote. "Please God forgive me ... Please I was not trying to kill or hurt anyone. I ask the family — the courts — and God to all please forgive me."
The February crash drew national attention to Orrego-Savala — including a temporary appearance in an advertisement for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Braun and a tweet from President Trump — because Orrego-Savala is in the United States illegally.
“The tragic loss of Edwin Jackson and Jeffery Monroe drew national attention, but not for the appropriate reasons,” Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said in a statement. “Their deaths should serve as a stark reminder to the unnecessary fatal consequences that can result from intoxicated driving.”
Orrego-Savala is believed to have entered the country illegally around July 1, 2004, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman. He was then convicted of driving under the influence in Redwood City, California, in 2005.
"I'm hear (sic) in the US trying to make money to send back to my family in Guatemala," Orrego-Savala wrote in his letter to Judge Hawkins. "It's a really pore (sic) country. And I got mix (sic) up with drinking thinking about my family miles from home."
In October 2006, he was arrested by agents in San Francisco and deported in January 2007, according to a federal criminal complaint. A little more than two years later, in March 2009, he was again arrested in San Francisco and deported that May.
Last year, Orrego-Savala was convicted in Boone County for driving without a license. But he was arrested and charged under the name Alex Cabrera-Gonsales, an alias that he has used in the past, according to local and federal authorities.
There are now charges in two other venues for Orrego-Savala. He was charged in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana with illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. Boone County prosecutors also charged Orrego-Savala with perjury, forgery and identity deception, all felonies, as well as false informing, a misdemeanor.
Those cases remained pending.
Judge Hawkins: 'We've all suffered losses'
Following the victims' statements, Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Brandon Skates submitted five pictures to the judge.
One-by-one, he started describing what each photo showed. Until the third one.
"Exhibit 3 is..." he began.
"You don't have to describe Exhibit 3," Marion Superior Judge Grant Hawkins cut him off.
That photo showed what remained of the victims following the crash.
Because of their condition, Deborah Monroe told the judge, no one could say goodbye to Jeffrey. They had to say goodbye to a box.
The victims' bodies laid in the roadway as Orrego-Savala tried to run away, according to authorities. They were hit again by another vehicle.
Hawkins returned to that point while speaking to the court.
"What bothers me most," Hawkins said, "He kept going. That's what makes it worse."
He maintained a muted disposition while discussing the sentence.
Orrego-Savala came to this country to helps his family, Hawkins said, but he either brought bad habits with him or he developed them while living here.
Then the predictable happened when he drove while drunk.
"It just takes once. Then we're in here," Hawkins said, referring to the courtroom.
He delivered his sentence: 16 years, 8 for each count, the maximum allowed. The sentences will be delivered consecutively.
Hawkins turned to the victims' families.
"We've all suffered losses," he said, an encouraging smile on his face as he started choking up. "It gets easier."
Then the hearing ended and Orrego-Savala was taken away.
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