Left inset: Jose Ibarra (Clarke County Sheriff’s Office). Right inset: Laken Riley. Background: The scene where her body was found (WXIA).
A Venezuelan national in the United States without documentation when he brutally killed a nursing student at the University of Georgia will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, learned his fate on Wednesday in the death of Laken Riley, 22, while she was out for a jog on campus.
The defendant was sentenced right after being found guilty of murder, aggravated assault with intent to rape, kidnapping with bodily injury, obstructing or hindering a person making an emergency telephone call, tampering with evidence and peeping Tom. As an undocumented immigrant, Ibarra’s case drew national attention.
Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, took the defendant to task, CBS News reported.
“There is no end to the pain, suffering and loss that we have experienced or will continue to endure,” she said. “This sick, twisted and evil coward showed no regard for Laken or human life. We are asking the same be done to him.”
The killing happened on Feb. 22, the day Ibarra looked into the window and “spied upon” a woman in an apartment at the University of Village Housing building. Authorities said he didn’t know Riley, the case was a “crime of opportunity,” and he lived in an apartment adjacent to Oconee Forest Park, where Riley was killed.
The case came to light when UGA police responded to a call at 12:07 p.m. on Feb. 22 from a friend of Riley, saying she had gone for a run at the Intramural Fields earlier in the morning and had not returned as expected.
Once at the recreational area that includes several athletic fields, tennis courts, and trails for running and biking, first responders searched the surrounding area and quickly found Riley “in the forested area behind Lake Herrick” at 12:38 p.m., police said.
An affidavit said the victim’s body lay on the ground in the woods. She appeared to be unconscious and not breathing. She had visible injuries, and officers immediately began CPR. Emergency medical responders arrived and determined she was dead.
At Ibarra’s trial, prosecutors said he was “hunting for females on the University of Georgia’s campus” when he encountered Riley.
“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly,” special prosecutor Sheila Ross said during her opening statement, the Washington Post reported.
His defense attorney tried to argue the evidence against Ibarra was circumstantial, but prosecutors said Ibarra’s DNA was found under Riley’s fingernails, and investigators got the defendant’s thumbprint off her phone screen. Surveillance footage caught him trying to dispose of evidence, they said.
Riley was a student at UGA through the spring 2023 semester before transferring to the Augusta University College of Nursing program in Athens, where she had been enrolled at the time of her death, according to a news release from the University of Georgia Police Department.
Her killing drew national attention after news surfaced that Ibarra, a Venezuelan citizen, had unlawfully crossed into the U.S. in 2022, entering through El Paso, Texas, before being detained and released.
The case also prompted lawmakers to push for “The Laken Riley Act” to put into place stricter immigration rules by mandating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detain undocumented people accused of certain crimes.
In March, the bill passed 251-170, with 37 Democrats joining all Republicans in support.
“While we can’t bring Laken back, we must now turn our focus to doing everything we can to prevent this from happening to another American,” Representative Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican who authored the bill, said. “The Laken Riley Act is a key piece in our fight to restore the rule of law and get criminal illegal aliens off our streets.”
“Colleagues, today we act on behalf of those who are no longer with us because of Joe Biden’s policies,” Collins continued. “Let’s continue to pray for her family and friends as they grieve her loss and resolve to continue to fight for the American people against the lawlessness created by this administration. Let’s ensure justice for Laken Riley.”
David Harris and Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
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