close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

    • The trial of Laken Riley’s suspected killer begins Friday
    news

    The trial of Laken Riley’s suspected killer begins Friday

    Vaseline Posted on

    A judge will decide Friday the fate of the man accused of killing nursing student Laken Riley on the UGA campus. Jose Antonio Ibarra, the 26-year-old suspect, requested a judicial trial.

    play

    ATHENS, Georgia − The morning of Thursday, February 22, was typical for a major university city. But a brazen attack sent shockwaves through the city and state.

    Laken Hope Riley, a former University of Georgia student enrolled in a nursing program in Athens run by Augusta College, went for a run that cool and cloudy morning. The outing ended with her violent death at an intramural field complex on campus.

    On Friday, the man accused of her murder will go on trial before a judge in Clarke County Superior Court. The verdicts in the trial are determined by a judge and not by a jury.

    Jose Antonio Ibarra, the 26-year-old suspect, requested a judicial trial. Jury selection was just a day away when it was announced in court Tuesday that Ibarra had waived his right to a jury trial and would face Judge Patrick Haggard’s decision.

    The charges against Ibarra are numerous. The charges include malice and murder, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated assault, interfering with someone calling 911 and acting as a peeping tom.

    Ibarra, who uses a translator to understand court proceedings and communicate with the court, is a Venezuelan citizen who came to the U.S. unlawfully. That fact has fueled the debate over U.S. immigration policy, with both President Joe Biden and now President-elect Donald Trump mentioning Ibarra’s immigration status in campaign speeches.

    Western Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez filed a document May 31 noting that her office would seek a sentence of life in prison without parole and would not seek the death penalty.

    During the trial, the judge is expected to hear the state’s evidence presented by Special Prosecutor Sheila Ross, from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council in Atlanta. Ibarra’s case will be presented by his team of attorneys – Kaitlyn Beck, Dustin Kirby and John Donnelly.

    What happened to Laken Riley?

    After the 22-year-old nursing student left to go jogging on campus, University of Georgia police said a friend became concerned when she didn’t return and called police.

    Police found Riley unconscious, not breathing and with “visible injuries” shortly after noon on Feb. 22 in the woods near Lake Herrick in Athens. Police administered life-saving measures, but paramedics determined she had died at the scene.

    Court documents and authorities revealed that Riley suffered extreme head injuries after being struck with a blunt object. She died of blunt force trauma and asphyxia, according to the Athens-Clarke County coroner.

    As the investigation continued, University of Georgia police, Athens-Clarke County officials and others identified a possible suspect after a man was seen putting a jacket and latex gloves stained with blood into a trash bin near an apartment complex.

    The day after the murder, an Athens-Clarke County police officer spotted a man wearing a baseball cap matching the description of the unknown suspect at the dumpster. That man was Jose Ibarra’s 28-year-old brother. Police later tracked down Jose Ibarra, who was arrested after an officer reported seeing wounds on the suspect.

    In the wake of Riley’s death, the University of Georgia announced that $7.3 million would be spent on campus safety improvements and the city of Athens announced that $500,000 would be spent on city safety improvements.

    Laken Riley’s death sparks a national debate about immigration

    Riley’s death has shattered the local community and sparked an intense debate over violent crime and U.S. immigration policy. Georgia Republicans blamed President Joe Biden for the suspect’s presence in the country, while Democrats and Riley’s father have criticized the politicization of her death.

    Gov. Brian Kemp and former President Donald Trump also both placed blame on Biden, accusing him of “failed policies” that allowed violent crimes to continue in the country. Their claims linked unlawful immigration to the increase in violent crimes, despite studies suggesting that native-born U.S. residents are more likely to be arrested for violent crimes than undocumented immigrants.

    In an interview with NBC News in March, Riley’s father – Jason Riley – said he feared his daughter’s death was being exploited ahead of the November election.

    “I feel like she’s being used somewhat politically… It makes me angry,” Jason Riley told NBC News. “She was much better than that. She should be raised for the person she is.”

    “I would rather she not be so political, as you say – it caused a storm in our country,” he added. “And it stirred up a lot of people.”

    Contributing: Jeanine Santucci and Savannah Kuchar, USA TODAY

    Vaseline
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like