Laken Riley’s sister sobs as testimony confirms asphyxia and blunt-force head trauma were cause of death: Trial updates
Jose Ibarra could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted in the February killing of 22-year-old Laken Riley
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Laken Riley’s sister broke down in tears as a medical examiner confirmed in court on Tuesday that the Georgia nursing student died from a combination of blunt-force head trauma and asphyxia when she was killed while out on a run in February.
Dr. Michelle DiMarco, an associate medical examiner with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, testified on day three of the trial that the injuries Riley had to her face “could be consistent with a rock.”
Jose Ibarra, the man accused of killing her, is on trial for her murder.
An FBI agent testified previously that Ibarra’s cellphone location data places him “very close” to Riley at the time of her murder, with the victim’s smartwatch revealing the moment her heart stopped beating.
Prosecutors are expected to rest the case against Ibarra – a Venezuelan native who entered the US illegally – today, with the defense then presenting around half a day of testimony.
If convicted, Ibarra could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The murder case became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration during this year’s presidential campaign.
What we know about Jose Antonio Ibarra, the man on trial for murdering a Georgia student Laken Riley
As her alleged killer goes on trial, how Laken Riley’s brutal murder became a bitterly divisive political issue- Everything we know about the Laken Riley case as murder trial under way
Laken Riley ‘fought for her life’ against killer who was ‘hunting for females’ on day of murder, trial hears
Jogger says she saw a person in hooded jacket standing ‘really, really still’ on the trail morning of Laken Riley’s murder
Sally Kirklewski, who was an avid runner on the trails, testified that she saw a person on the trails the morning of Laken Riley’s murder who was standing “really, really still.”
The person appeared to be a man, she said, and was wearing a navy blue jacket with the hood up. He was wearing gloves and dark pants and dark shoes, she added.
When she spotted him, he was standing near a retention pond facing away from the trail, she said.
“I continued running past this person a little bit faster,” she said.
Laken Riley’s mother cries during testimony about the moment her heart stopped beating
Laken Riley’s mother broke down in tears again in court on Monday – this time during testimony that revealed the exact moment her heart stopped.
University of Georgia police officer Wesley Durkit said that data from Laken Riley’s smartwatch show her heart rate and moving speed slowing down and then coming to a sudden stop at 9:10 a.m. Her heart stopped beating at 9:28 a.m., he said.
She activated the SOS feature on her phone at 9:10:39 a.m. and a 911 call went out at 9:11:06 a.m., Durkit testified.
Riley’s heart rate dropped to zero beats per minute and remained there until a few short spikes at 12:38 p.m., when a police officer performed CPR on her, he testified.
Woman testifies about peeping tom incident that happened hour before Laken Riley’s murder
Tejaswi Stamilmnai Saraswathi, 24, testified about someone trying to get into her apartment while she was in the shower.
It happened on the morning of February 22 about an hour before Laken Riley’s murder.
Jose Ibarra faces the peeping tom charge related to the incident.
Saraswathi, who was a student at the University of Georgia, told the court she heard someone “fidgeting” with the door of her Athens apartment.
“When I went to see who it was, I saw through a peephole someone was trying to open the door,” she said. The person fled, but she saw that he was wearing a black hood, black jacket, a hat and black gloves. But she couldn’t see his face, she said.
Ibarra’s roommate testified they took ‘humanitarian flight’ from NYC to Georgia
Jose Ibarra’s roommate Rosbeli Elisber Flores-Bello testified through an interpreter that she moved with him from New York City to Athens, Georgia, in September of 2023.
Flores-Bello was living in Queens when they met through his mother-in-law.
She said they moved to Georgia because Ibarra’s brother talked about the many work opportunities in Athens.
When asked by the state how they got to Athens, Flores-Bello said they requested a “humanitarian flight” in September.
“In Manhattan, at The Roosevelt Hotel, we asked for a humanitarian flight to come here to Atlanta, to come here to Manhattan,” she said.
The hotel was used as a temporary in-take center for migrants.
Jose Ibarra took selfies in clothes matching clothes seen in a surveillance video
An image displayed in court shows Jose Ibarra who was seen wearing a hat that led the police to his arrest.
The selfies were found on Ibarra’s phone.
Ibarra’s wife asks ‘What happened with the girl’ in jail phone call
In a recorded jail phone call played in court on Monday, Jose Ibarra’s wife, Layling Franco, urged him to tell the truth following his arrest for the brutal murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley earlier this year.
FBI specialist Abeisis Ramirez testified about the call, providing a Spanish to English translation of the conversation.
“She continues to ask him: What happened with the girl?” Ramirez testified. “She tells him that he has to know something, and he just continues to tell her like, ‘Layling enough, Layling enough.’”
Ramirez said Layling then “said that she thinks it’s crazy that they don’t have anyone else’s DNA – they only have his. And she said she doesn’t understand how someone can see someone dying and not call 911.”
“I know you know something,” she added on the call.
Ibarra’s brothers subpoenaed to testify
Ibarra’s brothers have been subpoenaed to testify, according to a court filing Monday.
Jose Ibarra’s brothers, Diego and Argenis, lived in the same apartment. They face federal charges for allegedly having false immigration documents.
It’s not clear when they will take the stand.
FBI agent testifies about what was found on suspect’s phone
FBI special agent Jamie Hipkiss testified Monday that there were selfies on Jose Ibarra’s phone that showed him wearing the same clothes as the suspect.
Ibarra was wearing a white-and-black shirt, black Adidas hat and navy blue jacket, according to Hipkiss.
He said the clothes are “consistent with” the suspect who was seen on video tossing out the jacket in a dumpster. The jacket was collected by investigators and was later determined to contain DNA from both Ibarra and Laken Riley.
“We see him removing the navy blue jacket and stuffing it into the recycling bin in his apartment complex, he appears to be wearing that exact same shirt there,” Hipkiss said on the stand.
His testimony will resume after the lunch break.
Court on lunch break
Court is on a lunch break and will resume att 1:30 ET.
Who is Jose Ibarra?
Jose Ibarra, who is from Venezuela and is not a US citizen, has no known connection to Laken Riley and no known violent criminal history. Instead, investigators described Riley’s violent death as a “crime of opportunity.”
Ibarra’s status as a non-US citizen sparked conflicting reports from law enforcement agencies about his criminal past on American soil – and during an election year spurred Republican lawmakers to seize on the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the hour to push offensive theories about migrants online.
President Joe Biden also sparked a backlash among some Democrats after referring to him as “an illegal” during his fiery State of the Union speech this year.
Now, Ibarra is on trial for murder.
Here’s what we know about Jose Antonio Ibarra:
Here’s what we know about the suspect in Laken Riley’s murder
Shortly after his arrest, federal immigration officials said Jose Ibarra illegally entered the US in 2022 – a revelation that turned the case into a political football