The man accused of killing Georgian student Laken Riley in February was “hunting” women on the day of the attack, prosecutors alleged on the first day of his trial.

Riley, a 22-year-old student at Augusta University, disappeared on February 22 while jogging on the University of Georgia campus before being found dead.

Investigators arrested 26-year-old Jose Ibarra in connection with her death.

On Friday, November 15, prosecutors alleged in an Athens County, Georgia court that Ibarra was preying on women on the University of Georgia campus on the day of Riley’s murder. Los Angeles TimesAP and NBC News.

“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he repeatedly struck her skull with a rock,” prosecutor Sheila Ross said during Friday’s opening statement, according to media reports.

Riley “fought for her life, for her dignity” during Ibarra’s alleged attack, Ross said in court.

“In that fight, she caused this suspect to leave behind forensic evidence,” the prosecutor told NBC News.

The evidence presented at trial includes Ibarra’s DNA, which was found under Riley’s fingernails; a jacket reportedly found with the blood of both Riley and Ibarra; and what prosecutors allege are Ibarra’s fingerprints on Riley’s phone, Ross told NBC News.

In court, Riley’s roommate Lilly Steiner spoke about the victim.

“Laeken brought a sense of joy to our lives that has been missing since,” she said, according to NBC News.

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Riley died of blunt force trauma to the head, Sonny Wilson, coroner for the Athens-Clarke County Coroner’s Office and Morgue, previously confirmed to PEOPLE.

Ibarra has been charged with several crimes, including murder, kidnapping and assault, according to online court records previously cited by PEOPLE.

He is a Venezuelan citizen who immigration officials believe entered the country illegally in 2022, according to CBS Los Angeles Times and ABC News.

Ibarra has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to ABC News, WSB-TV and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit rainn.org.