A supporter holds a sign with a photo of Laken Riley before former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally on March 9 in Rome, Georgia.

Mike Stewart/AP

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Mike Stewart/AP

During the During the recent election cycle, the murder of 22-year-old college student Laken Riley captured national attention, sparking an emotional and politically charged debate over immigration and crime after authorities said the suspect was an undocumented immigrant.

Now the trial against the suspect, 26-year-old José Antonio Ibarra, has begun in Athens, Georgia.

He faces multiple charges, including murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, obstructing an emergency call, tampering with evidence and being a peeping tom.

Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial, meaning Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard will be the one to decide Ibarra’s fate. Prosecutors opted not to seek the death penalty. Instead, court records show they plan to seek a sentence of life in prison without parole.

During opening statements Friday, prosecutor Sheila Ross accused Ibarra of killing Riley when she “refused to be his rape victim.” Ross said Ibarra’s DNA was left under the student’s fingernails and his fingerprint was found on Riley’s phone screen. Meanwhile, attorney Dustin Kirby described the evidence against Ibarra as circumstantial.

What happened

Riley studied nursing at Augusta University. She transferred there from the University of Georgia, which does not offer a nursing program. Even after transferring, she remained an active member of her sorority at UGA.

On February 22, police began looking for Riley after her friend reported that she had not returned from her morning walk. Later that day, officers discovered Riley’s body in a wooded area near Lake Herrick on UGA’s campus. Authorities said Riley was unconscious and had visible injuries. When emergency medical services arrived, they pronounced Riley dead at the scene. Her cause of death was blunt force trauma.

The next day, Ibarra was arrested in connection with Riley’s death. UGA Police Chief Jeff Clark said at the time that Ibarra’s arrest was based on community input, campus video and physical evidence. Clark added that there was no evidence that Ibarra, who is not a U.S. citizen or UGA student, knew Riley.

How Riley’s death became a focal point in the immigration and crime debate

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Ibarra, a Venezuelan, entered the US unlawfully. near El Paso, Texas, where he was apprehended by Border Patrol agents in 2022. released on parole. Ibarra was previously charged in New York City with conduct causing injury to a child under the age of 17 and a motorcycle license violation.

As these details emerged, Republicans in Georgia were quick to blame Riley’s death on the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

In March, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene interrupted President Biden’s State of the Union address and shouted, “Say her name,” referring to Riley.

Biden responded by saying Riley was “an innocent woman who was murdered by an illegal man.” The president added, “To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself, I understand.” He also urged Republican lawmakers to reconsider their support for a bipartisan immigration bill that failed to pass in early February. It aimed to strengthen border security and hire more Border Patrol agents and immigration judges.

Republicans in the House of Representatives also passed the Laken Riley Act, which, among other things, requires ICE to detain undocumented people accused of committing theft-related crimes such as shoplifting. The legislation was sponsored by Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins.

President-elect Donald Trump also spoke about Riley during his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

“Another American life was stolen by a criminal alien released by this administration,” Trump said in July. “Tonight, America, this is my vow. I will not let these murderers and criminals into our country.”

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly referred to immigrants as criminals. However, several studies, including those from Stanford University and the CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank, indicate that immigrants commit fewer crimes than U.S.-born people.

Recent research by The New York Times and the Marshall Project also found that between 2007 and 2016, there was no link between undocumented immigrants and an increase in violent or property crime in those communities.