Man convicted of murder in Georgia student Laken Riley’s killing

Jose Ibarra, 26, a Venezuelan native who entered the US illegally, was out ‘hunting for females’ on the University of Georgia campus earlier this year when he killed a 22-year-old Laken Riley

A man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has been found guilty of murder in a case that fueled the national debate over immigration during this year’s presidential race.

Jose Ibarra, 26, a Venezuelan native who entered the US illegally in 2022, was charged with murder and other crimes in the February 22 death of Riley, who was found dead on the running trails on the campus in Athens while out for a morning jog.

The decision was made on Wednesday by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard after Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial.

Ibarra’s trial came to a close on Wednesday morning after three days of testimony. Prosecutors called 29 witnesses, including law enforcement officers, Riley’s roommates and a woman who lived in the same apartment as Ibarra.

Jose Ibarra, 26, was found guilty of murder (2024 Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Prosecutor Sheila Ross said in her opening that Ibarra had been “hunting” for women on the day of the murder but when he came across Riley she “fought” back. When she “refused to be a rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly.”

Defense attorney Dustin Kirby said that Riley’s death was a tragedy and called the evidence in the case graphic and disturbing. But he said there is not sufficient evidence to prove that it was Ibarra and questioned how his fingerprints could be on the phone if he was supposedly wearing gloves.

“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.”

Defense attorneys called a police officer, a jogger and one of Ibarra’s neighbors on Tuesday and rested their case Wednesday morning.

Riley’s parents, roommates and other friends and family members packed the courtroom each day, many of them getting emotional as they listened to witness testimony.

Laken Riley, 22, was attacked and killed in February while she was out running (Supplied)

Ibarra, dressed each day in a collared shirt and dark slacks with his feet chained, appeared attentive throughout the trial.

Riley’s murder added fuel to the national debate over immigration when federal authorities said Ibarra illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case.