Jose Ibarra, the man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, resumed on Monday in Georgia.
It’s a case that became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration during this year’s presidential campaign.
Ibarra, a Venezuelan native who entered the US illegally in 2022 , is charged with murder and other crimes in the February slaying of the 22-year-old, who was a student at Augusta University College of Nursing.
He waived his right to a jury trial, meaning Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard will hear and decide his case.
During opening statements on Friday, Prosecutor Sheila Ross said Ibarra had been “hunting” for women on the day of the murder but when he came across Riley she “fought” back. When she “refused to be a rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly.”
Defense attorney Dustin Kirby said in his opening that Riley’s death was a tragedy and called the evidence in the case graphic and disturbing. But he said there is not sufficient evidence to prove that his client killed Riley.
If convicted, Ibarra could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors said they won’t pursue the death penalty.
How Laken Riley’s brutal murder became a divisive political issue
Laken Riley’s murder became a rallying cry for Republicans, an avoidable tragedy that they say encompasses the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S-Mexico border amid a record surge of immigrants entering the country.
Jose Ibarra, an immigrant from Venezuela who entered the United States illegally at El Paso in September 2022, is charged with murder and other crimes for the February slaying.
Immigration was already a major issue in the presidential campaign, and Republicans seized on Riley’s killing, with now-president-elect Donald Trump blaming Democratic President Joe Biden’s border policies for her death.
Republicans used Ibarra’s status to exemplify the ongoing issue at the southern border and touted Riley’s brutal killing as a way to bolster their anti-migrant agenda.
Andrea Cavallier18 November 2024 15:10
Everything we know about the Laken Riley case
When 22-year-old Laken Riley never returned after going for a morning run on the University of Georgia campus in February, her roommate became worried and called campus police.
The nursing student’s slain body was found later that day in a wooded area behind Lake Herrick, near UGA’s intramural fields on campus, according to University of Georgia Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The next day, Jose Ibarra, 26, who is not a US citizen, was arrested and charged with murder in Riley’s death, a case that quickly became a flashpoint in the national immigration debate.
Now, nine months later, Ibarra is on trial for her murder.
Andrea Cavallier18 November 2024 15:00
Testimony resumes today in Laken Riley suspect murder trial
Testimony has resumed in the trial of Jose Ibarra, who is accused of killing Georgia nursing student 22-year-old Laken Riley, in a case that became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration during this year’s presidential campaign.
Follow along with The Independent for updates.
Andrea Cavallier18 November 2024 14:55
