Earlier this year, a Venezuelan man was on the University of Georgia campus and ended up killing nursing student Laken Riley after a confrontation, according to a prosecutor’s statement on Friday.
However, his attorney argued that the evidence against him is merely circumstantial and doesn’t definitively prove guilt. Jose Ibarra, who entered the U.S. without authorization, faces murder charges for the February incident that has sparked discussions about immigration during this year’s presidential race.
Ibarra chose to forgo a jury trial, so his case is being handled by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard.
Prosecutor Sheila Ross explained that Ibarra met Riley on February 22 while she was jogging on campus. The 22-year-old was studying at Augusta University College of Nursing, which has a campus roughly 70 miles east of Atlanta.
Ross described how when Laken rejected Ibarra’s advances, he brutally attacked her with a rock.
She emphasized that Riley fought fiercely to defend herself and maintain her dignity. In fact, Ibarra’s DNA was found under her fingernails as evidence of their struggle.
During the altercation over her phone when she called 911, he left his thumbprint on the screen as well.
Ross asserted that this forensic evidence is strong enough to establish Ibarra’s guilt and added that digital and video footage further confirm his involvement in Riley’s death.
On the other hand, defense lawyer Dustin Kirby acknowledged that while the evidence presented is graphic and unsettling, it does not conclusively link his client to Riley’s murder.
He stated that while it’s clear Laken was murdered, claiming Jose Ibarra did it relies on circumstantial evidence.
The case has intensified national conversations about immigration since federal officials revealed that Ibarra had entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 but had been permitted to remain while seeking legal status.
This incident prompted criticism from Republicans like President-elect Donald Trump who pointed fingers at President Joe Biden’s border policies for contributing to her tragic death.
Just weeks after Laken’s murder during a State of the Union address focused on border security, Biden even mentioned her by name.
On Friday morning, Riley’s mom, Allyson Phillips, along with other family members filled the courtroom, but they didn’t stick around after lunch.
Throughout the morning, Phillips often buried her face in her hands and cried, especially when photos of her daughter came up or during talks about what happened.
Ibarra was there too, dressed in a plaid shirt and dark pants with his feet shackled. He had headphones on to follow a Spanish interpreter and seemed to pay attention—sometimes glancing up at the images being shown and other times staring down at his lap.
During her opening remarks, Ross presented a timeline that pieced together Riley’s last moments using footage from doorbell cameras and surveillance videos, along with data from Riley’s phone and watch.
Riley left home at 9:03 a.m., heading towards her usual running trails in the woods. The data from her watch indicated that by 9:10 a.m., she was sprinting when something caused her to suddenly stop.
She called 911 at 9:11 a.m., but despite repeatedly asking for help after the dispatcher answered, no one responded before she hung up. The dispatcher called back immediately but got no answer.
Ross pointed out that Her encounter with him was long. Her fight with him was fierce, highlighting that Riley’s watch showed her heart was still beating until 9:28 a.m.
She also shared security footage showing someone she identified as Ibarra at 9:44 a.m., tossing something into a recycling bin outside his apartment complex before throwing something into nearby bushes as well.
Inside the bin, police discovered a dark hooded jacket stained with blood—later confirmed to be Riley’s—and strands of long dark hair caught on one of its buttons. In the bushes nearby were black disposable kitchen gloves; one even had a hole in its thumb.
About half an hour later, another video showed what looked like Ibarra again but dressed differently as he approached another trash bin carrying something before walking back without it.
Unfortunately, that bin had already been emptied by the time police got there to investigate.
One of Riley’s roommates shared how worried she became when Riley didn’t come back from her run as expected.
The four friends used an app to keep track of each other’s locations; Lilly Steiner mentioned getting increasingly anxious when she noticed that Riley’s phone had been stationary for quite some time in one spot.
Since Riley often chatted with her mom while running, Allyson also started worrying when calls went unanswered that morning.
Eventually, Steiner and another roommate named Sofia Magana decided to head over to where they thought Riley might be based on their app tracking info—they found what looked like one of Riley’s earbuds on the trail before heading home to call for help.