Brother of UGA murder suspect to appear in federal court

By Jennifer Lifsey

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    MACON, Georgia (WANF) — The brother of the man accused of killing a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus will make his first court appearance on Monday.

Diego Ibarra, 29, is charged with having a fake green card, an unrelated charge.

UGA officials say Diego was initially hired by the university to work in a dining hall. But he never started working because he failed to provide other documents required to keep the job.

Diego’s brother, Jose Ibarra, is accused of murdering 22-year-old Laken Riley while she was out on a run near Lake Herrick on campus.

The Ibarra brothers are from Venezuela. Officials say both of them are in the United States illegally.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas spoke about this case Sunday morning on Face the Nation. While Jose was arrested multiple times before Riley’s death, Mayorkas said his agency was not notified because different cities have different reporting policies.

“We firmly believe that if a city is aware of an individual who poses a threat to public safety, then we would request that they provide us with that information so that we can ensure that that individual is detained if the facts so warrant,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.

Secretary Mayorkas is under fire from Republicans for his handling of the southern border. He was impeached by the Republican-led House. But that’s unlikely to go through the Democrat-led Senate.

Diego Ibarra is expected to appear before a federal judge Monday in Macon.

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