Illegal Immigrant Accused of Murdering Laken Riley Learns His Fate
A Georgia judge has found Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, guilty on all ten charges related to the murder of nursing student Laken Riley, which occurred in February. The verdict, delivered by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard, included convictions for malice murder, felony murder, and several other serious offenses, including kidnapping and aggravated assault. Ibarra, who waived his right to a jury trial, attacked Riley while she was jogging on the University of Georgia campus, fatally assaulting her when she resisted his attempt to rape her.
Evidence presented during the trial included DNA linking Ibarra to the crime scene, along with testimonies detailing Riley’s injuries and the events surrounding her 911 call prior to the attack. The case has sparked a national conversation, with figures like President-elect Donald Trump using it to criticize current immigration policies, alleging that such policies contributed to Riley’s death. Ibarra had previously crossed the U.S. border illegally in 2022 and was released into the country. This tragic incident continues to resonate in discussions about immigration and public safety in the United States.
A Georgia judge found illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra guilty on all ten counts Wednesday in the murder of nursing student Laken Riley in February.
Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard announced the verdict finding the Venezuelan national guilty of malice murder and felony murder, as well as kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing a person making an emergency call, tampering with evidence and peeping Tom, CNN reported.
Ibarra had waived his right to a jury trial.
Laken Riley’s Killer: GUILTY!#JusticeForLakenRiley pic.twitter.com/x7YxCn8FcK
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 20, 2024
Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University College of Nursing, had gone a run on the University of Georgia’s campus when Ibarra attacked her on Feb. 22.
“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly,” prosecutor Sheila Ross told Haggard on Friday when the trial began.
Police had been alerted to Riley’s location from her cell phone after she made a 911 call at 9:11 a.m. on Feb. 22. The dispatcher answered, but no one responded. The dispatcher then called back, but no one picked up.
Body cam footage is played as evidence in court from the officer that found Laken Riley’s body after being brutally murdered by an illegal alien
The judge allows anyone in the courtroom that may be disturbed to leave the courtroom before it is played pic.twitter.com/teWGL6k0zT
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) November 15, 2024
Athens-Clarke County police sergeant Kenneth Maxwell, who found Riley’s body, testified Friday that her shirt had been removed above her breasts and her running tights had been pulled down.
CNN reported that in addition to the charges directly related to Ibarra’s assault and murder of Riley, he was also convicted of violating Georgia’s “peeping Tom” law for “going to a UGA apartment building on the same day as Riley’s death, looking through the window and spying on a student prior to his encounter with Riley.”
DNA evidence found under Riley’s nails and on bloodied clothes Ibarra had worn linked him directly to the murder, ABC News reported.
He also had scratch marks on his neck and back.
Riley’s murder became a 2024 presidential campaign issue, with President-elect Donald Trump and other Republicans blaming President Joe Biden’s lax border policies for her death.
WATCH: At the border, Trump says he has spoken to the parents of Laken Riley, who was bludgeoned to death by an illegal alien
“Joe Biden will never say Laken Riley’s name, but we will say it.” pic.twitter.com/pHlsvwL2Wy
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 29, 2024
Ibarra illegally crossed the southern border into the U.S. in September 2022 at El Paso, Texas, and was apprehended and released into the U.S.
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