Laken Riley murder trial latest: Victim’s mother sobs in court as bodycam reveals ‘fingernail scratches’ on suspect’s arm
Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan native who entered the US illegally, is charged with the February killing of 22-year-old Laken Riley
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The mother of slain Laken Riley sobbed in court on Monday as photos were shown of what appeared to be fingernail scratches on the suspect’s arms.
Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student allegedly fought back against her attacker before she was killed while out for a run on February 22. Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan native who entered the US illegally in 2022 , was arrested the next day and is now on trial for her murder.
Video footage showed the moment officers confronted him about the scratches on his arms, but Ibarra did not have an explanation, Cpl. Rafael Sayan testified.
“First he says, ‘I don’t have anything there … there’s nothing there,’” Sayan said over the video. “Then he starts pointing at it again, saying that, ‘Oh, it’s just a scratch.’”
Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, began crying in court as the images were displayed.
It’s a case that became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration during this year’s presidential campaign.
Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial, meaning Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard will hear and decide his case.
During opening statements on Friday, Prosecutor Sheila Ross said 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 in his opening 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.
If convicted, Ibarra could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors said they won’t pursue the death penalty.
ICYMI: Prosecutor says suspect was out ‘hunting for female’ on day of Laken Riley’s murder
During opening statements on Friday, Prosecutor Sheila Ross said 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.”
“The evidence will show that Laken fought,” she said. “She fought for her life, she fought for her dignity. And in that fight she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind.”
Riley’s mother sobbed in court during the proceedings.
Suspect could not explain scratches on arms
Jose Ibarra did not have an explanation for the scratches on his arms, according to Cpl. Rafael Sayan, who testified in court Monday.
Sayan questioned the suspect after the first officer was unable to do so because of the language barrier.
In the body cam footage played in court, Ibarra can be seen pointing to his arms and wrist while speaking to the officer.
“First he says, ‘I don’t have anything there … there’s nothing there,’” Sayan said over the video. “Then he starts pointing at it again, saying that, ‘Oh, it’s just a scratch.’”
Sayan told the court that the scratch looked fresh as it appeared to be moist with bodily fluid, and that “it didn’t look very old.”
Bodycam footage shows moment officer sees what “looked like fingernail scratches” on suspect
The first witness on Monday was a University of Georgia Police officer Sgt. Joshua Epps, who testified seeing injuries on Ibarra when he responded to the suspect’s home.
“While speaking to him, I noticed on his right arm, his bicep, there was a scratch,” he told the court. “On his left arm, he had a forearm scratch that was very similar – which in my mind, looked like fingernail scratches to me.”
“I also noticed on his left wrist, just below the palm, he had a puncture – maybe half an inch wide – that, through my experiences playing sports in high school, and receiving the same injury from fingernails in football, I could see, like, wet flesh, like almost like it was fresh. It wasn’t very old,” Epps said.
How Laken Riley’s brutal murder became a divisive political issue
Laken Riley’s murder became a rallying cry for Republicans, an avoidable tragedy that they say encompasses the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S-Mexico border amid a record surge of immigrants entering the country.
Jose Ibarra, an immigrant from Venezuela who entered the United States illegally at El Paso in September 2022, is charged with murder and other crimes for the February slaying.
Immigration was already a major issue in the presidential campaign, and Republicans seized on Riley’s killing, with now-president-elect Donald Trump blaming Democratic President Joe Biden’s border policies for her death.
Republicans used Ibarra’s status to exemplify the ongoing issue at the southern border and touted Riley’s brutal killing as a way to bolster their anti-migrant agenda.
Read more:
How Laken Riley’s brutal murder became a bitterly divisive political issue
Republicans seized on the fact that an immigrant who entered the US illegally is the suspect in the murder of the Georgia nursing student
Everything we know about the Laken Riley case
When 22-year-old Laken Riley never returned after going for a morning run on the University of Georgia campus in February, her roommate became worried and called campus police.
The nursing student’s slain body was found later that day in a wooded area behind Lake Herrick, near UGA’s intramural fields on campus, according to University of Georgia Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The next day, Jose Ibarra, 26, who is not a US citizen, was arrested and charged with murder in Riley’s death, a case that quickly became a flashpoint in the national immigration debate.
Now, nine months later, Ibarra is on trial for her murder.
Read more:
Everything we know about the Laken Riley case as murder trial under way
Jose Antonio Ibarra is now on trial for the murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student killed while running on the University of Georgia campus
Testimony resumes today in Laken Riley suspect murder trial
Testimony has resumed in the trial of Jose Ibarra, who is accused of killing Georgia nursing student 22-year-old Laken Riley, in a case that became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration during this year’s presidential campaign.
Follow along with The Independent for updates.