ATHENS, Ga. — The last photos of slain Georgian nursing student Laken Riley were revealed Friday — as prosecutors noted she “fought for her life for as much as 18 minutes” against the illegal Venezuelan immigrant accused of her murder.

Opening statements got underway in the long-awaited trial of Jose Ibarra, the Tren de Aragua-affiliated migrant accused of killing Riley on Feb. 22 in what police in Athens have called a crime of opportunity.

“He went hunting for females on the University of Georgia campus and during his hunt he encountered 22-year-old Laken Riley on her morning walk,” said District Attorney Sheila Ross, with Riley’s family in the gallery. “When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he repeatedly hit her skull with a rock.

‘The evidence will show that Laken fought. She fought for her life, she fought for her dignity, and in that fight she caused this defendant to leave behind forensic evidence. She also marked her killer for all the world to see.”

Ross also showed a surveillance footage photo of Riley jogging before she was attacked and as the photo was shown Riley’s mother began sobbing next to Riley’s sister, who was also in tears.

Ibarra sat quietly in the courtroom, listening as the trial was translated for him over headphones.

Ross claimed that 26-year-old Ibarra left his left fingerprint on Riley’s iPhone and DNA under her fingernails.

And when police went to Ibarra’s apartment the next day and finally arrested him, they found scratches on his arms, wrists and on the backs of his hands, Ross said.

Riley wrestled Ibarra for about 18 minutes from 9:10 a.m. until her heart stopped at 9:28 a.m., according to heart rate measurements and data from her GPS running watch, Ross said.

“Her meeting with him lasted a long time,” Ross said. “Her fight with him was fierce.”

After Ross wrapped up after about 45 minutes, Ibarra’s attorney Dustin Kirby delivered less than 10 minutes of opening statements to the judge, focusing on the fact that the prosecution’s case is based on “circumstantial” evidence.

“The evidence in this case is very good that Laken Riley was murdered,” Kirby said. “The evidence that Jose Ibarra killed Laken Riley is circumstantial.”

Kirby said the judge should not accept the conclusions surrounding the DNA, fingerprints and other evidence.

“On closer inspection, the evidence linking Mr. Ibarra to that event is lacking,” Kirby said.

For example, Kirby questioned the fingerprint left on Riley’s phone, which prosecutors said belonged to Ibarra. Ibarra wore black latex gloves, but prosecutors say there were several holes in the gloves, including one on his thumb that allowed his fingerprint to be left behind.

“The hole in the glove wouldn’t have left this mark,” Kirby said.

The lawyer also focused on the fact that Ibarra’s brother Diego was wearing a black Adidas hat after the crime, which the suspect was seen wearing on surveillance footage. Kirby seemed to raise this fact merely to create reasonable doubt, but the attorney did not go so far as to offer an alternate suspect.

Ibarra allegedly attacked the Augusta University nursing student with the intention of sexually assaulting her.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of malice murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and related crimes, and could face life in prison without parole if convicted.

He also faces a charge of peeping on a University of Georgia employee on the same day as the murder.

Prosecutors have chosen not to press for the death penalty in the Ibarra case.

On Tuesday, Ibarra waived his right to a trial by 12 of his colleagues, opting instead to have the case decided by Supreme Court Justice H. Patrick Haggard.

Ibarra’s defense team lost a bid earlier this month to delay the trial and block evidence including DNA, fingerprints and cellphone data on the grounds that it had been improperly collected by investigators and that the defense needed more time to assess the case.

The case against Ibarra, whose family has ties to the infamous Tren de Aragua gang, captured the national spotlight because Ibarra was released by immigration authorities after illegally entering the U.S. through El Paso, Texas, due to space constraints.

He was arrested in the Big Apple in August 2023 for illegally riding a gas moped with a 5-year-old on the back without a helmet or seat belt, but was released again.

Ibarra then fled to Georgia to join his brother Diego, one of his relatives with ties to the dangerous gang where he lives.

The brothers were arrested in Georgia in September 2023 for allegedly stealing from a Walmart.

Riley’s body was found near her apartment after her friend alerted authorities that she had not returned home from her morning jog. Police say Ibarra’s attack on Riley appeared to be a random crime of opportunity.

He was arrested a day later and has been jailed without bail ever since.

Prosecutors plan to present a slew of evidence at trial linking Ibarra to the crime, including fingerprints taken from Riley’s phone and DNA evidence taken from her fingernails.