On a February morning earlier this year, nursing student Laken Riley, 22, set off on her regular morning jog around the University of Georgia campus. She never returned.
Her disappearance set off a desperate search to find her and bring her home safe – a search that came to a tragic end later that day when her beaten body was found along her running route. Riley died of blunt force trauma in the attack.
Now, Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, is behind bars and has been charged with Riley’s murder.
His trial was set to begin on November 13 with jury selection but, at a pre-trial hearing, he waived his right to a jury trial and requested a bench trial instead. A bench trial is where a judge decides the facts and makes a ruling on the case, instead of a jury.
Ibarra, who comes from Venezuela and is not a US citizen, has no known connection to the student and no known violent criminal history. Instead, police described Riley’s violent death as a “crime of opportunity”.
Ibarra’s status as a non-US citizen sparked conflicting reports from law enforcement agencies about his criminal past on American soil – and over the past several months during an election year has also spurred Republican lawmakers to seize on the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the hour to push offensive theories about migrants online. President Joe Biden sparked a backlash among some Democrats after referring to him as “an illegal” during his fiery State of the Union speech this year.
Here’s what we know so far about the murder suspect:
Who is Jose Antonio Ibarra?
Ibarra is a 26-year-old Venezuelan migrant, according to ICE records, and appears to have first entered the US within the past two years.
Back on September 8, 2022, Customs and Border Protection officials encountered Ibarra after he crossed the US’s southern border with Mexico near El Paso, Texas, ICE officials told ABC7 in a statement. He was “paroled and released for further processing,” officials said.
The agency also said that Ibarra had been arrested by the New York Police Department on September 14, 2023 and was “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.”
New York officials then released him “before a detainer could be issued,” ICE said. However, the NYPD toldThe Independent that the department has no record of Ibarra’s arrest on file – and so could not confirm whether this account was correct.
There was no known connection between Ibarra and Riley, University of Georgia Police Chief Jeff Clark said at a news conference earlier this year following the murder.
“This was a crime of opportunity where he saw an individual, and bad things happened,” Chief Clark said.
Hours after Riley was killed, Athens homicide detectives pulled a photo from a surveillance camera of a potential suspect who wore a distinctive Adidas hat, according to a federal affidavit obtained by The Associated Press.
It eventually led them to an off-campus apartment complex where they searched the grounds, and began to piece together details about Ibarra.
Shortly after his arrest, federal immigration officials said Ibarra illegally entered the US in 2022 and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case.
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.
As he spoke about border security during his State of the Union address just weeks after Riley’s killing, Biden mentioned Riley by name.
What charges is the suspect facing?
Ibarra has been charged with one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder and one count each of kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, hindering an emergency telephone call, tampering with evidence and peeping Tom.
Affidavits unveiled gruesome details, accusing Ibarra of “disfiguring her skull” in support of the aggravated battery charge. The filing also claimed that Ibarra used an object to harm her and dragged her body to a “secluded area.”
According to the indictment, on the day of Riley’s killing, Ibarra peered into the window of an apartment in a university housing building, which is the basis for the peeping Tom charge.
Defense attorneys had tried unsuccessfully to have the trial moved out of Athens, to have the peeping Tom charge handled separately and to exclude some evidence and expert testimony.
Prosecutors had chosen not to seek the death penalty but said in a court filing that they intended to seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Ibarra is being held in custody in Georgia where he was denied bail.
His bench trial is expected to begin on Friday, November 15, where a judge will hear facts of the case and make a ruling, without a jury.
Immigration status becomes a right-wing rallying cry
Riley’s murder – and the immigration status of the man charged with it – became a rallying cry for some prominent Republicans to blame migrants for crime in America and blast the Biden administration for its handling of the situation at the southern border.
“Laken Riley’s tragic death struck the hearts of Georgians everywhere and has sparked national outrage,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said in a post on X.
“Joe Biden’s failed policies have turned every state into a border state, and I’m demanding information from him so we can protect our people when the federal government won’t!”
After saying that Ibarra illegally entered the country, Tennessee Sen Marsha Blackburn wrote: “The disastrous policies and negligence of the Biden administration is putting American lives at risk!”
Failed Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis also chimed in, reacting to ICE’s statement: “The combination of open borders and sanctuary and soft-on-crime policies is deadly. The illegal alien who murdered Laken Riley had recently been arrested in NY — and then released.”
“The brutal murderer who took the life of Laken was one of the millions of illegal aliens that the Biden Administration simply released and unleashed upon our country,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on X. “The brutal murderer who took the life of Laken was one of the millions of illegal aliens that the Biden Administration simply released and unleashed upon our country.”
It is a widespread myth that those who migrate to the US are more likely to commit crimes — a recent study from the Pew Research Center revealed 57 per cent of Americans believe the large number of migrants seeking to enter the country leads to more crime.
But there is no evidence to suggest people who migrate to the US, including those who are undocumented, commit more crimes than those born in America. In fact, between 2012 and 2018, undocumented migrants in Texas were less than half as likely to commit violent crimes than those born in the US, according to a widely cited, peer-reviewed study from 2020.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Homeland Security Sec Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached by the House, accusing him of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” by allowing the release of migrants awaiting legal proceedings and breaching “public trust” when he told lawmakers the southern border was secure.
What happened to Laken Riley?
The 22-year-old Augusta University College of Nursing student was reported missing on February 22 after she set off for a morning jog at the University of Georgia’s intramural fields.
When Riley failed to return home for several hours, her concerned roommate called the police around noon.
Less than 40 minutes later, search teams located Riley in an area behind Lake Herrick. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Chief Clark underscored the rarity of her killing, saying there had not been a homicide on campus in the last 20 years.
Riley grew up in Atlanta’s northern suburbs, graduated from River Ridge High School in Cherokee County where she ran on the cross-country team, and then attended the University of Georgia in Athens.
She later transferred to Augusta University’s nursing college, attending classes on its Athens campus not far from the sprawling UGA campus. She remained active in the sorority she had joined at UGA.
Hundreds of people attended her funeral at Woodstock City Church, one of the largest churches in the area.
“Her love for spreading God’s word led her to attend mission trips through the church. Her love for the Lord was exemplified in every aspect of her life,” her obituary said.
Cherokee County schools superintendent Brian Hightower said in a statement that Riley was “an outstanding scholar athlete” who inspired classmates and teachers.
“Our community and our world lost a shining light with the tragic passing of Laken,” Hightower said.
A GoFundMe page for Riley has garnered $261,240 since its creation, far supassing its $35,000 goal. The money has gone toward funeral expenses, helping establish a scholarship in her name, and raising homicide awareness, according to the campaign.
