The man accused of Laken Riley’s murder earlier this year “went on the hunt for women” the day the Georgia nursing student was killed, prosecutors told a judge Friday on the first day of Jose Antonio Ibarra’s trial.

“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he repeatedly struck her skull with a rock,” prosecutor Sheila Ross said in her opening statement.

A medical examiner found that Riley died of blunt force trauma and asphyxia and had a complex skull fracture and eight other lacerations on the left side of her head, she said.

Riley’s murder became a flashpoint in the immigration debate. Ibarra, 26, is a Venezuelan citizen who entered the United States illegally in 2022, officials say. Republicans, including Donald Trump, who met with Riley’s parents before a campaign rally in March, have used the case to call for stricter border policies.

Ross said the prosecution’s forensic, digital and video evidence “will point to one individual, Jose Ibarra, as the killer of Laken Riley.”

Ibarra faces multiple charges, including three counts of murder with intent to commit murder, kidnapping with bodily harm, aggravated assault with intent to rape and ‘voyeur’. He is accused of accosting Riley while she was running on the morning of February 22. She was found dead later that day in a wooded area on the University of Georgia campus in Athens after her roommates called the police when she did not return. At home. Riley’s three roommates testified Friday.

Ibarra has waived his right to a jury trial. Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard will consider the evidence and decide whether Ibarra is guilty.

Ross told the judge Friday that prosecutors would show that Ibarra’s DNA was found under Riley’s fingernails and that his fingerprint was found on her iPhone.

She said police also found a jacket in a dumpster near where Ibarra lived and that it had both Ibarra’s and Riley’s blood on it. Riley’s blood was also found on black gloves that had been discarded near Ibarra’s home.

Ibarra’s lawyers called the evidence against him circumstantial.

“The evidence that Jose Ibarra killed someone is circumstantial,” said attorney Dustin Kirby, adding that the evidence “linking Mr. Ibarra to that event is lacking” upon closer inspection.

Kirby said there is not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ibarra is guilty of the crimes he was accused of.

Police previously said there was no evidence the suspect knew the victim and that Ibarra did not have an extensive criminal background.