Edwin Jackson was a walk-on at Georgia Southern, developed into an all-conference talent, then became an NFL starter with Indianapolis. He made the AllState Good Works Team as a college senior for the time he spent volunteering at a local school.

On Saturday night he was in the back of an Uber when he asked the driver to pull over because he was feeling sick. Both men got out and were on the shoulder of the road when an F-150 plowed into them, killing both.

It was a hit-and-run in the literal sense, as the driver of the Ford left the scene on foot before cops got there. They caught up to him on an exit ramp. The name he gave them: Alex Cabrera Gonsales, supposedly of Mexico. His real name: Manuel Orrego-Savala, a native of Guatemala. Why would he need an alias? Because:

“Orrego-Savala is in the United States illegally and has previously been deported on two occasions, in 2007 and again in 2009,” Sgt. John Perrine said in a statement. “State police investigators are working with U.S. Federal Immigration Officials and they have placed a hold on Orrego-Savala.”… One of the two victims was thrown into the center lane of I-70 during the crash, Perrine said in a statement. A state trooper spotted the crash along the right side of the road and activated his emergency lights. “As he slowed to stop for the crash he struck the body of the victim in the center lane,” Perrine said in a statement. State police did not say which victim was struck.

If you’re wondering if Indianapolis is a sanctuary city, the answer is no. A state law passed in 2011 bars local jurisdictions from limiting federal immigration officers from doing their job. It’s a red state and it takes a red-state approach to this problem. But even red states can only do so much to deter illegals from settling there, as Texans could tell you. By some estimates there are anywhere from 85,000 to 100,000 illegals residing in Indiana alone.

A study was published last year suggesting that higher numbers of illegal immigrants in a state means *lower* rates of drunk driving generally, the theory being that illegals have more incentive than most to make sure they’re sober when they’re behind the wheel. After all, if they’re caught, it’s not just jail time but expulsion from the United States. Just one problem with that hypothesis: What happens when an individual illegal immigrant realizes that deportation is no bar to reentry? Orrego-Savala hopped the border successfully twice before after being kicked out. The threat of deportation may be a deterrent for some illegals who are otherwise keeping their noses clean while in the U.S., but for someone who’s beaten the system already? If anything, removal and reentry multiple times might inculcate a sense of impunity in those who’ve done it. And remember, per Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the average drunk driver has driven drunk many, many times without getting caught before he’s caught the first time. Orrego-Savala may have been flouting the law in this area for years before he killed two people on Saturday. He was an accident waiting to happen.

But the statistics are, to some extent, beside the point. There are various horror stories in our archives in which Americans were killed by illegals driving under the influence and the takeaway is always the same: If America did a better job at enforcement, the accident would never have happened because the driver wouldn’t have been here in the first place. One death is too many.

The Colts’ Twitter timeline is full of tributes to, and memories of, Jackson. He was 26 years old.