SAVANNAH, Ga. — Georgia’s attorney general appointed a black district attorney from the Atlanta area Monday to take over the case of a white father and son charged with killing a black man, making her the third outside prosecutor in a slaying that’s prompted a national outcry over suspicions that race played a role in delaying arrests.

Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was fatally shot Feb. 23 by the men who told police they chased him because they believed he matched the appearance of a burglary suspect caught on surveillance video. Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, were arrested last week, more than two months later, after video of the shooting appeared online and provoked outrage. Federal prosecutors are also considering hate crimes charges, the Justice Department said; that would allow for a separate case in federal court.

Cobb County District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes takes over the case from prosecutor Tom Durden, who the state’s attorney general said asked to be replaced by a prosecutor with a large staff as “this case has grown in size and magnitude.” Holmes is based in metro Atlanta, more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) from the coastal Georgia community in Glynn County where the shooting happened.

“District Attorney Holmes is a respected attorney with experience, both as a lawyer and a judge,” state Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, said in a statement. “And the Cobb County District Attorney’s office has the resources, personnel and experience to lead this prosecution and ensure justice is done.”

Holmes served four years a magistrate judge in suburban Cobb County before Gov. Brian Kemp appointed her to fill the vacant district attorney’s position last July. According to the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Council, Holmes is one of only seven black district attorneys in the state.

An attorney for Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, applauded the appointment of a new lead prosecutor.

“In order for justice to be carried out both effectively and appropriately in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, it is imperative that the special prosecutor has no affiliation with the Southeast Georgia legal or law enforcement communities,” attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement. He asked that Holmes “be zealous in her search for justice.”

Arbery was hit by three shotgun blasts, according to an autopsy report released Monday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. One shot grazed his right wrist, and the other two struck him in the chest. Blood tests for various drugs and alcohol all came back negative.

Many have expressed frustration with the investigation, questioning whether the arrests took so long because the suspects are white and the victim black. The killing happened in a subdivision bordered by marsh just outside Brunswick, a working-class port city of about 16,000 that also serves as a gateway to beach resorts on neighboring islands.

The McMichaels weren’t arrested until after the video became public and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to look into the killing. Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, have been jailed since Thursday on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault.

With courts largely closed because of the coronavirus, getting an indictment needed to try the men on murder charges will take a while longer still. The soonest a grand jury can convene to hear the case will be mid-June.

It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself from the case because the elder McMichael had worked under her. The first outside prosecutor appointed, District Attorney George Barnhill of the neighboring Waycross Judicial Circuit, stepped aside about a month later because his son works for Johnson as an assistant prosecutor. Durden got the case in mid-April.

Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation to weigh whether hate crimes charges should be brought. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing state charges.

“We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement Monday.

According to Kupec’s statement, the department is also considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.

The leaked video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. A truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one white man standing in the pickup’s bed and another beside the open driver’s side door.

The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.

A man who says he recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.

William R. Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He has not been charged.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday. “I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”

MILLBURN, NJ — The head coach for the Millburn High School girls volleyball team has been arrested after he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old player from a private club, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey said.

Peter Nguyen, 50, of Edison, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, one count of sexual context with a minor, one count of aggravated criminal sexual contact, and one count of giving alcohol to a minor for allegedly abusing a player.

The two met at Impact Volleyball Club in Rahway, Carey said, where Nguyen was a coach and the teen played. He invited the teen to his home on two separate occasions, gave her alcohol, and “inappropriately sexually touched her,” Carey said.

Nguysen has served as the head volleyball coach for the Millburn High School for approximately three years, and as a bookkeeper in the business department for the district. He is not charged with assaulting any players from the Millburn team.

“The Millburn Township Board of Education has been made aware of criminal allegations made against one of its employees. The Board is unable to comment about that employee’s terms and conditions of employment or the specific allegations made against the employee. To the extent that the criminal allegations may impact the District, we will be fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities,” superintendent Christine Burton told Patch.

An investigation began after the girl alerted her parents, who in turn alerted Woodbridge Township Police.

The investigation remains ongoing, Carey said. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Deon Mccall of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3652, or Detective Ryan Hoppock of the Woodbridge Police Department at (732) 634-7700, or Detective Jeffrey Tierney of the Edison Police Department at (732) 248-7400.

Image via Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana prosecutor blasted President Donald Trump on Wednesday for politicizing the case of an immigrant illegally living in the U.S. and charged in a drunken crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and another man, saying his and others’ comments were “ghoulish and inappropriate.”

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said his office would “vigorously prosecute” the case regardless of the suspect’s immigration status. Curry criticized Trump and others who cited the case as part of the nation’s immigration debate, noting that “two innocent men lost their lives in this horrible incident.”

Curry filed felony charges earlier in the day against the suspect, Manuel Orrego-Savala, a citizen of Guatemala who has twice been deported from the U.S. Orrego-Savala is accused of driving the pickup truck that hit Jackson and his Uber driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, early Sunday in Indianapolis.

“We are disheartened that ghoulish and inappropriate public commentary has politicized this tragedy,” Curry, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Much of such commentary, including tweets by the president, fails to acknowledge that both Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe lost their lives on Sunday. We will simply seek justice on behalf of the families of those two victims.”

Trump drew added attention to the case on Twitter, calling the highway collision “disgraceful,” and prodded Democrats to work with him on illegal immigration and border security.

Orrego-Savala is charged with two counts each of causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. The two more serious counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The 37-year-old said little during his initial court hearing Wednesday, responding through an interpreter as a judge explained the proceedings and charges. The judge set his bond at $200,000 after entering a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Investigators said Orrego-Savala was living illegally in the U.S. at the time of Sunday’s crash. Late Tuesday, he was charged by federal prosecutors with illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. He faces up to 10 years in prison in that case, which would be handled after any state charges are resolved.

His defense attorney, Jorge Torres, said Orrego-Savala’s immigration status has no bearing on the drunken-driving case. He questioned whether his client could get a fair trial given the local publicity about the case and his immigration issues. Torres declined to comment on Trump’s tweets.

Torres said his client has been living and doing construction work in the Indianapolis area for several years.

“He’s very distraught to say the least,” Torres said. “He’s very confused.”

Jackson’s family planned no response to Trump’s tweets about the crash and the suspect’s immigration status, according to a family spokesman.

“We’ll let the politicians do the politics while the family is just going to grieve and circle the wagons and try to heal from this tragic situation,” Atlanta attorney Daniel Meachum said Tuesday. “The family is in shock, as you can imagine.”

Prosecutors allege Orrego-Savala was driving the vehicle that crashed into Jackson and Monroe as the two men stood outside Monroe’s car early Sunday along Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. Monroe was transporting Jackson for Uber, the ride-sharing service, and had pulled over after the 26-year-old football player became ill, investigators said.

Orrego-Savala was arrested shortly after the crash. A blood test conducted at a hospital determined he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana’s legal limit for driving, according to court documents.

Orrego-Savala was deported in 2007 and again in 2009. In 2005, he was convicted for driving under the influence in Redwood City, California. He also has numerous other misdemeanor convictions and arrests in California and Indiana, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nicole Alberico.

In the 2005 case, he pleaded no contest to two separate drunken-driving offenses and was given a brief jail sentence, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Orrego-Savala remained jailed Wednesday in Indianapolis. Federal and county prosecutors spelled his last name as “Orrego-Zavala” in charging documents, but his attorney said his name is spelled Orrego-Savala, a spelling that’s listed among his aliases in the federal documents.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana prosecutor blasted President Donald Trump on Wednesday for politicizing the case of an immigrant illegally living in the U.S. and charged in a drunken crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and another man, saying his and others’ comments were “ghoulish and inappropriate.”

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said his office would “vigorously prosecute” the case regardless of the suspect’s immigration status. Curry criticized Trump and others who cited the case as part of the nation’s immigration debate, noting that “two innocent men lost their lives in this horrible incident.”

Curry filed felony charges earlier in the day against the suspect, Manuel Orrego-Savala, a citizen of Guatemala who has twice been deported from the U.S. Orrego-Savala is accused of driving the pickup truck that hit Jackson and his Uber driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, early Sunday in Indianapolis.

“We are disheartened that ghoulish and inappropriate public commentary has politicized this tragedy,” Curry, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Much of such commentary, including tweets by the president, fails to acknowledge that both Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe lost their lives on Sunday. We will simply seek justice on behalf of the families of those two victims.”

Trump drew added attention to the case on Twitter, calling the highway collision “disgraceful,” and prodded Democrats to work with him on illegal immigration and border security.

Orrego-Savala is charged with two counts each of causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. The two more serious counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The 37-year-old said little during his initial court hearing Wednesday, responding through an interpreter as a judge explained the proceedings and charges. The judge set his bond at $200,000 after entering a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Investigators said Orrego-Savala was living illegally in the U.S. at the time of Sunday’s crash. Late Tuesday, he was charged by federal prosecutors with illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. He faces up to 10 years in prison in that case, which would be handled after any state charges are resolved.

His defense attorney, Jorge Torres, said Orrego-Savala’s immigration status has no bearing on the drunken-driving case. He questioned whether his client could get a fair trial given the local publicity about the case and his immigration issues. Torres declined to comment on Trump’s tweets.

Torres said his client has been living and doing construction work in the Indianapolis area for several years.

“He’s very distraught to say the least,” Torres said. “He’s very confused.”

Jackson’s family planned no response to Trump’s tweets about the crash and the suspect’s immigration status, according to a family spokesman.

“We’ll let the politicians do the politics while the family is just going to grieve and circle the wagons and try to heal from this tragic situation,” Atlanta attorney Daniel Meachum said Tuesday. “The family is in shock, as you can imagine.”

Prosecutors allege Orrego-Savala was driving the vehicle that crashed into Jackson and Monroe as the two men stood outside Monroe’s car early Sunday along Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. Monroe was transporting Jackson for Uber, the ride-sharing service, and had pulled over after the 26-year-old football player became ill, investigators said.

Orrego-Savala was arrested shortly after the crash. A blood test conducted at a hospital determined he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana’s legal limit for driving, according to court documents.

Orrego-Savala was deported in 2007 and again in 2009. In 2005, he was convicted for driving under the influence in Redwood City, California. He also has numerous other misdemeanor convictions and arrests in California and Indiana, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nicole Alberico.

In the 2005 case, he pleaded no contest to two separate drunken-driving offenses and was given a brief jail sentence, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Orrego-Savala remained jailed Wednesday in Indianapolis. Federal and county prosecutors spelled his last name as “Orrego-Zavala” in charging documents, but his attorney said his name is spelled Orrego-Savala, a spelling that’s listed among his aliases in the federal documents.

Story Continues

An Indiana prosecutor blasted President Donald Trump on Wednesday for politicizing the case of an immigrant illegally living in the U.S. and charged in a drunken crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and another man, saying his and others’ comments were “ghoulish and inappropriate.”

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said his office would “vigorously prosecute” the case regardless of the suspect’s immigration status. Curry criticized Trump and others who cited the case as part of the nation’s immigration debate, noting that “two innocent men lost their lives in this horrible incident.”

Curry filed felony charges earlier in the day against the suspect, Manuel Orrego-Savala, a citizen of Guatemala who has twice been deported from the U.S. Orrego-Savala is accused of driving the pickup truck that hit Jackson and his Uber driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, early Sunday in Indianapolis.

“We are disheartened that ghoulish and inappropriate public commentary has politicized this tragedy,” Curry, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Much of such commentary, including tweets by the president, fails to acknowledge that both Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe lost their lives on Sunday. We will simply seek justice on behalf of the families of those two victims.”

Trump drew added attention to the case on Twitter, calling the highway collision “disgraceful,” and prodded Democrats to work with him on illegal immigration and border security.

Orrego-Savala is charged with two counts each of causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. The two more serious counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The 37-year-old said little during his initial court hearing Wednesday, responding through an interpreter as a judge explained the proceedings and charges. The judge set his bond at $200,000 after entering a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Investigators said Orrego-Savala was living illegally in the U.S. at the time of Sunday’s crash. Late Tuesday, he was charged by federal prosecutors with illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. He faces up to 10 years in prison in that case, which would be handled after any state charges are resolved.

His defense attorney, Jorge Torres, said Orrego-Savala’s immigration status has no bearing on the drunken-driving case. He questioned whether his client could get a fair trial given the local publicity about the case and his immigration issues. Torres declined to comment on Trump’s tweets.

Torres said his client has been living and doing construction work in the Indianapolis area for several years.

“He’s very distraught to say the least,” Torres said. “He’s very confused.”

Jackson’s family planned no response to Trump’s tweets about the crash and the suspect’s immigration status, according to a family spokesman.

“We’ll let the politicians do the politics while the family is just going to grieve and circle the wagons and try to heal from this tragic situation,” Atlanta attorney Daniel Meachum said Tuesday. “The family is in shock, as you can imagine.”

Prosecutors allege Orrego-Savala was driving the vehicle that crashed into Jackson and Monroe as the two men stood outside Monroe’s car early Sunday along Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. Monroe was transporting Jackson for Uber, the ride-sharing service, and had pulled over after the 26-year-old football player became ill, investigators said.

Orrego-Savala was arrested shortly after the crash. A blood test conducted at a hospital determined he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana’s legal limit for driving, according to court documents.

Orrego-Savala was deported in 2007 and again in 2009. In 2005, he was convicted for driving under the influence in Redwood City, California. He also has numerous other misdemeanor convictions and arrests in California and Indiana, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nicole Alberico.

In the 2005 case, he pleaded no contest to two separate drunken-driving offenses and was given a brief jail sentence, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Orrego-Savala remained jailed Wednesday in Indianapolis. Federal and county prosecutors spelled his last name as “Orrego-Zavala” in charging documents, but his attorney said his name is spelled Orrego-Savala, a spelling that’s listed among his aliases in the federal documents.

Prosecutors filed a motion seeking a DNA sample from Orrego-Savala, arguing it could help determine whether he was in the truck that hit Jackson and Monroe. Prosecutors also said the sample would confirm his identity, noting his various aliases.

When Orrego-Savala appeared Tuesday before a judge who advised him of his rights, he told the judge through an interpreter: “I wasn’t driving the car. I don’t know why I am here,” Indianapolis television station WRTV reported.

A police news release did not mention the presence of anyone else in the pickup truck.

___

Associated Press writer Tom Davies contributed to this report from Indianapolis.

(CNN) – President Donald Trump was “ghoulish and inappropriate” in politicizing a fatal drunken driving crash involving an undocumented immigrant, the Indiana prosecutor overseeing the case said.

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry filed four felony charges Wednesday against Manuel Orrego-Savala, a Guatemalan citizen who had been deported from the US twice, for allegedly drunkenly operating a vehicle and killing NFL linebacker Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe in Indiana early Sunday morning.

In announcing those charges, Curry criticized Trump and others for focusing on Orrego-Savala’s immigration status rather than the tragedy of two lost lives.

“We will vigorously prosecute this matter, just like any comparable crime, not because of the immigration status of an accused, but because two innocent men lost their lives in this horrible incident,” Curry, a Democrat, said in a statement.

“We are disheartened that ghoulish and inappropriate public commentary has politicized this tragedy. Much of such commentary, including tweets by the President, fails to acknowledge that both Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe lost their lives on Sunday,” he added. “We will simply seek justice on behalf of the families of those two victims.”

The sharply worded comments came a day after Trump said it was “disgraceful that a person illegally in our country” killed Jackson, a linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts. Trump called on Democrats to “get tough on the Border, and with illegal immigration, FAST!”

As part of his call for tighter immigration policy, Trump has repeatedly highlighted crimes in which the suspect is an undocumented immigrant. On the campaign trail, he spoke often about the 2015 killing of Kate Steinle in San Francisco, allegedly by a man deported five times previously. The man, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, was found not guilty of murder in the case.

Authorities said Orrego-Savala, 37, was driving the vehicle that fatally hit Jackson and Monroe early Sunday on Interstate 70. Orrego-Savala had a prior conviction for driving under the influence, and had been deported twice, according to officials.

Suspect in court

Orrego-Savala was charged in court Wednesday with two counts each of felony failure to remain at the scene of an accident and causing death when operating a motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent of .15 or more, according to court documents.

The judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and set bond at $200,000.

Outside the courtroom, defense attorney Jorge Torres said he had “serious concerns” about getting a fair trial in light of the negative attention on his client’s immigration status.

“Drunk driving has nothing to do with immigration status,” Torres said.

Orrego-Savala also was charged on Tuesday in federal court with illegal entry after previous deportations.

“The defendant in this case allegedly re-entered the country illegally for the second time before he put the public safety of Indianapolis at risk and took the lives of two innocent men early Sunday morning,” said Josh J. Minkler, a US attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.

Edwin Jackson, 26, started eight games in 2016 for the Colts, but did not play this past season due to an injury.

“Edwin was loved by all in the Colts organization,” the team said. “We admired his outgoing personality, competitive spirit and hardworking mentality.”

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said he will pay for both men’s funerals.

The crash

After the crash Sunday, Orrego-Savala was accused of driving without a license and suspicion of intoxicated driving, and taken to the Marion County Jail.

Monroe, a ride-share driver, had stopped his 2018 Lincoln on the side of Interstate 70 in Indianapolis because Jackson, his passenger, had become ill, according to state police.

Both men were standing outside the car when a black Ford F-150 pickup truck drove onto the emergency shoulder and struck them.

One of the men was thrown into the center lane. A state trooper spotted the wreckage and as he slowed to stop for the crash, he struck the body in the center lane, officials said. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

During Orrego-Savala’s arrest, he gave the Indiana State Police an alias — Alex Cabrera Gonsales — and attempted to flee on foot, authorities said.

In a preliminary breathalyzer test, Orrego-Savala had a .239 percent blood alcohol concentration, about three times the legal limit to drive, according to a criminal affidavit. He also admitted to being the driver, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit states that the suspect had been “sound asleep” prior to being read his implied consent rights. In addition, an alcoholic container was found inside his vehicle on the passenger side, according to the affidavit.

When Orrego-Savala appeared before a judge on Tuesday, he questioned why he was in court, and claimed he wasn’t driving the car in the fatal crash, according to the court clerk.

A man listed as Alex Cabrera Gonsales was arrested last year in Whitestown, Indiana, after a driving infraction, according to a report by Whitestown Police officials, who confirmed both identities are the same person.

He was pulled over for failing to stop at a stop sign, and authorities found out he did not have a driver’s license, according to the police report. He was arrested and taken to jail for further processing.

Scott Rolston of Whitestown Police said the department generally would not communicate with ICE for a typical traffic stop.

Cabrera Gonsales pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while never receiving a license, which is a misdemeanor, according to documents provided by CNN affiliate WISH-TV. He was sentenced to two days in the Boone County Jail and released after one day served.

Deported twice

Orrego-Savala was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in October 2006, and deported to Guatemala in January 2007, according to a federal criminal complaint.

He was prohibited from returning to the United States for 10 years, according to federal officials.

Two years after he was deported, he returned to the United States illegally, and was deported again two months later in May 2009, with an order not to come back for 20 years, according to the complaint.

County authorities gave the suspect’s name as Orrego-Savala, but the US attorney’s office identified him as Orrego-Zavala.

Rick Callahan, Associated Press

Updated 11:07 pm, Wednesday, February 7, 2018

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana prosecutor blasted President Donald Trump on Wednesday for politicizing the case of an immigrant illegally living in the U.S. and charged in a drunken crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and another man, saying his and others’ comments were “ghoulish and inappropriate.”

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said his office would “vigorously prosecute” the case regardless of the suspect’s immigration status. Curry criticized Trump and others who cited the case as part of the nation’s immigration debate, noting that “two innocent men lost their lives in this horrible incident.”

Curry filed felony charges earlier in the day against the suspect, Manuel Orrego-Savala, a citizen of Guatemala who has twice been deported from the U.S. Orrego-Savala is accused of driving the pickup truck that hit Jackson and his Uber driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, early Sunday in Indianapolis.

“We are disheartened that ghoulish and inappropriate public commentary has politicized this tragedy,” Curry, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Much of such commentary, including tweets by the president, fails to acknowledge that both Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe lost their lives on Sunday. We will simply seek justice on behalf of the families of those two victims.”

Trump drew added attention to the case on Twitter, calling the highway collision “disgraceful,” and prodded Democrats to work with him on illegal immigration and border security.

Orrego-Savala is charged with two counts each of causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. The two more serious counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The 37-year-old said little during his initial court hearing Wednesday, responding through an interpreter as a judge explained the proceedings and charges. The judge set his bond at $200,000 after entering a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Investigators said Orrego-Savala was living illegally in the U.S. at the time of Sunday’s crash. Late Tuesday, he was charged by federal prosecutors with illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. He faces up to 10 years in prison in that case, which would be handled after any state charges are resolved.

His defense attorney, Jorge Torres, said Orrego-Savala’s immigration status has no bearing on the drunken-driving case. He questioned whether his client could get a fair trial given the local publicity about the case and his immigration issues. Torres declined to comment on Trump’s tweets.

Torres said his client has been living and doing construction work in the Indianapolis area for several years.

“He’s very distraught to say the least,” Torres said. “He’s very confused.”

Jackson’s family planned no response to Trump’s tweets about the crash and the suspect’s immigration status, according to a family spokesman.

“We’ll let the politicians do the politics while the family is just going to grieve and circle the wagons and try to heal from this tragic situation,” Atlanta attorney Daniel Meachum said Tuesday. “The family is in shock, as you can imagine.”

Prosecutors allege Orrego-Savala was driving the vehicle that crashed into Jackson and Monroe as the two men stood outside Monroe’s car early Sunday along Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. Monroe was transporting Jackson for Uber, the ride-sharing service, and had pulled over after the 26-year-old football player became ill, investigators said.

Orrego-Savala was arrested shortly after the crash. A blood test conducted at a hospital determined he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana’s legal limit for driving, according to court documents.

Orrego-Savala was deported in 2007 and again in 2009. In 2005, he was convicted for driving under the influence in Redwood City, California. He also has numerous other misdemeanor convictions and arrests in California and Indiana, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nicole Alberico.

In the 2005 case, he pleaded no contest to two separate drunken-driving offenses and was given a brief jail sentence, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Orrego-Savala remained jailed Wednesday in Indianapolis. Federal and county prosecutors spelled his last name as “Orrego-Zavala” in charging documents, but his attorney said his name is spelled Orrego-Savala, a spelling that’s listed among his aliases in the federal documents.

Prosecutors filed a motion seeking a DNA sample from Orrego-Savala, arguing it could help determine whether he was in the truck that hit Jackson and Monroe. Prosecutors also said the sample would confirm his identity, noting his various aliases.

When Orrego-Savala appeared Tuesday before a judge who advised him of his rights, he told the judge through an interpreter: “I wasn’t driving the car. I don’t know why I am here,” Indianapolis television station WRTV reported.

A police news release did not mention the presence of anyone else in the pickup truck.

___

Associated Press writer Tom Davies contributed to this report from Indianapolis.

___

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In this frame grab from video provided by WRTV in Indianapolis, Manuel Orrego-Savala, a citizen of Guatemala, leaves a court hearing Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, in Indianapolis. Orrego-Savala is suspected of causing a collision Sunday, Feb. 4, that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson. Orrego-Savala, 37, remained jailed Tuesday but had not been formally charged in Sunday’s crash along Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. Prosecutors said they were working with police on the investigation. (WRTV6 via AP)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana prosecutor blasted President Donald Trump on Wednesday for politicizing the case of an immigrant illegally living in the U.S. and charged in a drunken crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and another man, saying his and others’ comments were “ghoulish and inappropriate.”

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said his office would “vigorously prosecute” the case regardless of the suspect’s immigration status. Curry criticized Trump and others who cited the case as part of the nation’s immigration debate, noting that “two innocent men lost their lives in this horrible incident.”

Curry filed felony charges earlier in the day against the suspect, Manuel Orrego-Savala, a citizen of Guatemala who has twice been deported from the U.S. Orrego-Savala is accused of driving the pickup truck that hit Jackson and his Uber driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, early Sunday in Indianapolis.

“We are disheartened that ghoulish and inappropriate public commentary has politicized this tragedy,” Curry, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Much of such commentary, including tweets by the president, fails to acknowledge that both Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe lost their lives on Sunday. We will simply seek justice on behalf of the families of those two victims.”

Trump drew added attention to the case on Twitter, calling the highway collision “disgraceful,” and prodded Democrats to work with him on illegal immigration and border security.

Orrego-Savala is charged with two counts each of causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. The two more serious counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The 37-year-old said little during his initial court hearing Wednesday, responding through an interpreter as a judge explained the proceedings and charges. The judge set his bond at $200,000 after entering a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Investigators said Orrego-Savala was living illegally in the U.S. at the time of Sunday’s crash. Late Tuesday, he was charged by federal prosecutors with illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. He faces up to 10 years in prison in that case, which would be handled after any state charges are resolved.

His defense attorney, Jorge Torres, said Orrego-Savala’s immigration status has no bearing on the drunken-driving case. He questioned whether his client could get a fair trial given the local publicity about the case and his immigration issues. Torres declined to comment on Trump’s tweets.

Torres said his client has been living and doing construction work in the Indianapolis area for several years.

“He’s very distraught to say the least,” Torres said. “He’s very confused.”

Jackson’s family planned no response to Trump’s tweets about the crash and the suspect’s immigration status, according to a family spokesman.

“We’ll let the politicians do the politics while the family is just going to grieve and circle the wagons and try to heal from this tragic situation,” Atlanta attorney Daniel Meachum said Tuesday. “The family is in shock, as you can imagine.”

Prosecutors allege Orrego-Savala was driving the vehicle that crashed into Jackson and Monroe as the two men stood outside Monroe’s car early Sunday along Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. Monroe was transporting Jackson for Uber, the ride-sharing service, and had pulled over after the 26-year-old football player became ill, investigators said.

Orrego-Savala was arrested shortly after the crash. A blood test conducted at a hospital determined he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana’s legal limit for driving, according to court documents.

Orrego-Savala was deported in 2007 and again in 2009. In 2005, he was convicted for driving under the influence in Redwood City, California. He also has numerous other misdemeanor convictions and arrests in California and Indiana, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nicole Alberico.

In the 2005 case, he pleaded no contest to two separate drunken-driving offenses and was given a brief jail sentence, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Orrego-Savala remained jailed Wednesday in Indianapolis. Federal and county prosecutors spelled his last name as “Orrego-Zavala” in charging documents, but his attorney said his name is spelled Orrego-Savala, a spelling that’s listed among his aliases in the federal documents.

Prosecutors filed a motion seeking a DNA sample from Orrego-Savala, arguing it could help determine whether he was in the truck that hit Jackson and Monroe. Prosecutors also said the sample would confirm his identity, noting his various aliases.

When Orrego-Savala appeared Tuesday before a judge who advised him of his rights, he told the judge through an interpreter: “I wasn’t driving the car. I don’t know why I am here,” Indianapolis television station WRTV reported.

A police news release did not mention the presence of anyone else in the pickup truck.

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Associated Press writer Tom Davies contributed to this report from Indianapolis.

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana prosecutor blasted President Donald Trump on Wednesday for politicizing the case of an immigrant illegally living in the U.S. and charged in a drunken crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and another man, saying his and others’ comments were “ghoulish and inappropriate.”

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said his office would “vigorously prosecute” the case regardless of the suspect’s immigration status. Curry criticized Trump and others who cited the case as part of the nation’s immigration debate, noting that “two innocent men lost their lives in this horrible incident.”

Curry filed felony charges earlier in the day against the suspect, Manuel Orrego-Savala, a citizen of Guatemala who has twice been deported from the U.S. Orrego-Savala is accused of driving the pickup truck that hit Jackson and his Uber driver, 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe, early Sunday in Indianapolis.

“We are disheartened that ghoulish and inappropriate public commentary has politicized this tragedy,” Curry, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Much of such commentary, including tweets by the president, fails to acknowledge that both Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe lost their lives on Sunday. We will simply seek justice on behalf of the families of those two victims.”

Trump drew added attention to the case on Twitter, calling the highway collision “disgraceful,” and prodded Democrats to work with him on illegal immigration and border security.

Orrego-Savala is charged with two counts each of causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. The two more serious counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The 37-year-old said little during his initial court hearing Wednesday, responding through an interpreter as a judge explained the proceedings and charges. The judge set his bond at $200,000 after entering a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Investigators said Orrego-Savala was living illegally in the U.S. at the time of Sunday’s crash. Late Tuesday, he was charged by federal prosecutors with illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. He faces up to 10 years in prison in that case, which would be handled after any state charges are resolved.

His defense attorney, Jorge Torres, said Orrego-Savala’s immigration status has no bearing on the drunken-driving case. He questioned whether his client could get a fair trial given the local publicity about the case and his immigration issues. Torres declined to comment on Trump’s tweets.

Torres said his client has been living and doing construction work in the Indianapolis area for several years.

“He’s very distraught to say the least,” Torres said. “He’s very confused.”

Jackson’s family planned no response to Trump’s tweets about the crash and the suspect’s immigration status, according to a family spokesman.

“We’ll let the politicians do the politics while the family is just going to grieve and circle the wagons and try to heal from this tragic situation,” Atlanta attorney Daniel Meachum said Tuesday. “The family is in shock, as you can imagine.”

Prosecutors allege Orrego-Savala was driving the vehicle that crashed into Jackson and Monroe as the two men stood outside Monroe’s car early Sunday along Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. Monroe was transporting Jackson for Uber, the ride-sharing service, and had pulled over after the 26-year-old football player became ill, investigators said.

Orrego-Savala was arrested shortly after the crash. A blood test conducted at a hospital determined he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana’s legal limit for driving, according to court documents.

Orrego-Savala was deported in 2007 and again in 2009. In 2005, he was convicted for driving under the influence in Redwood City, California. He also has numerous other misdemeanor convictions and arrests in California and Indiana, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Nicole Alberico.

In the 2005 case, he pleaded no contest to two separate drunken-driving offenses and was given a brief jail sentence, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Orrego-Savala remained jailed Wednesday in Indianapolis. Federal and county prosecutors spelled his last name as “Orrego-Zavala” in charging documents, but his attorney said his name is spelled Orrego-Savala, a spelling that’s listed among his aliases in the federal documents.

Prosecutors filed a motion seeking a DNA sample from Orrego-Savala, arguing it could help determine whether he was in the truck that hit Jackson and Monroe. Prosecutors also said the sample would confirm his identity, noting his various aliases.

When Orrego-Savala appeared Tuesday before a judge who advised him of his rights, he told the judge through an interpreter: “I wasn’t driving the car. I don’t know why I am here,” Indianapolis television station WRTV reported.

A police news release did not mention the presence of anyone else in the pickup truck.

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Associated Press writer Tom Davies contributed to this report from Indianapolis.

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Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.