Trial begins today for the undocumented migrant accused of murdering Laken Riley, whose death ignited a political firestorm
By Holly Yan, Nick Valencia and Devon M. Sayers, CNN
Athens, Georgia (CNN) — In the nine months since Laken Riley was killed while jogging at the University of Georgia, her death turned into a lightning rod over crime and illegal immigration and cast an ominous shadow over the college town of Athens.
Now, a judge will decide the fate of Jose Antonio Ibarra, the undocumented migrant charged with murder and aggravated assault with intent to rape in connection with Riley’s February 22 death. Ibarra, 26, waived his right to a jury trial during a court hearing this week.
The outcome of the case will reverberate beyond the courtroom walls. Both Republicans and Democrats invoked Riley’s story at political events, and immigrant communities in Athens are divided over the vitriol.
Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University’s Athens campus, went for a morning jog in a wooded area of the UGA campus. Ibarra struck Riley in the head with a rock multiple times and asphyxiated her, according to his indictment.
Ibarra, who’s from Venezuela, is also charged under Georgia’s “peeping Tom” law for allegedly going to a UGA apartment building on the same day as the murder, looking through the window and spying on a student, his indictment states.
Ibarra was indicted on 10 counts: malice murder, three counts of felony murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing a person making an emergency call, tampering with evidence and peeping Tom, according to the indictment.
The defense and prosecution on Tuesday agreed to a bench trial – meaning the judge, not a jury, will hear evidence and testimony and decide Ibarra’s fate. Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard said the trial will start Friday morning and will likely continue Monday.
If Ibarra is convicted of the most serious charges, prosecutors intend to seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to court records.
It’s unclear why the prosecution is not seeking the death penalty against Ibarra. During Tuesday’s hearing, the judge forbade attorneys and the defendant from speaking with the media.
Suspect entered the US illegally and was previously arrested
Ibarra’s history in the US has fueled outrage among politicians. They say failed border policies and lax laws contributed to Riley’s death.
Ibarra was arrested in 2022 after entering the US illegally and was “paroled and released for further processing,” US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
He also was arrested by New York City police in September 2023 and charged with “acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation,” ICE asserted in a news release. But police released Ibarra “before a detainer could be issued,” ICE said.
When asked about Ibarra’s arrest and release in New York City at that time, the NYPD said it did not have a record of his arrest. NYPD’s public information office, in an email to CNN Wednesday, reiterated “there are no arrests (of Ibarra) on file.”
By February 2024, Ibarra was living in Athens, Georgia – home to the University of Georgia.
Police started searching for Riley after receiving a call around noon on February 22 from a friend who said Riley had not returned from her jog at UGA’s intramural fields that morning, UGA Police Chief Jeff Clark said. Less than an hour later, Riley’s body was found near a lake.
Police connected Ibarra to Riley’s killing by using campus security camera footage, physical evidence and key input from the community, Clark said.
Ibarra was arrested the day after Riley’s death. Investigators have said there is no evidence he and Riley knew each other, and police described the killing as a “crime of opportunity.”
Data reviewed by CNN suggests there is no significant connection between immigration and any increase in crime rate.
But Riley’s death turned into political fodder from both sides of the aisle.
Political outrage and new legislation
Republican President-elect Donald Trump blamed the Biden administration’s immigration policies for contributing to Riley’s death. In the months leading up to his second election, Trump vowed large-scale deportations of undocumented migrants.
Riley’s parents attended a Trump rally in March and met with Trump backstage, co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita said.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Biden’s “failed policies have turned every state into a border state.”
“Laken Riley’s tragic death struck the hearts of Georgians everywhere and has sparked national outrage,” the Republican governor posted on X two days after the Riley’s death.
Democrats have also invoked Riley’s death in political speeches. While campaigning for presidential candidate Kamala Harris in October, former President Bill Clinton, supporting Biden’s attempt to secure the border, lambasted Trump for scuttling a bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.
The bill sputtered in January when Trump’s opposition to it led Republican support to erode. During her presidential campaign, Harris vowed to revive the bill and sign it into law if she were elected.
Clinton said the bill would have led to “total vetting before people got in” at the US-Mexico border.
“Now, Trump killed the bill,” Clinton said, before citing Riley’s death.
“You got a case in Georgia not very long ago – didn’t you, they made an ad about it – a young woman who had been killed by an immigrant. Yeah, well, if they’d all been properly vetted that probably wouldn’t have happened,” Clinton said.
During Biden’s State of the Union speech in March, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene interrupted the president and called for him to acknowledge Riley’s death.
Biden responded by holding up a button that read: “Say Her Name LAKEN RILEY.”
“Lanken (Laken) Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal,” Biden said. “But how many thousands of people are being killed by legals? To her parents, I say: My heart goes out to you. Having lost children myself, I understand.”
Biden later told MSNBC he should have used the term “undocumented” instead of “illegal.”
Luke Winkler, the chairman of UGA’s College Republicans, said he knew Riley. He said he believes the circumstances that led to Riley’s death “was a combination of failure at the local level and failure at the federal level.”
In the months following Riley’s death, several states passed new laws on immigration enforcement.
In May, Georgia enacted a law that requires local and state law officials to verify the immigration status of those over age 18 who have been arrested, those in detention or those who an “officer has probable cause to believe” have committed a crime.
Local law enforcement agencies that do not cooperate with immigration officials could lose state funding, and local officials who do not work with immigration authorities could face misdemeanor charges.
Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed a similar bill in April requiring law enforcement to inform federal officials of the immigration status of a person in custody and to cooperate with efforts to detain and remove undocumented immigrants from the country.
And Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed three new bills in March targeting undocumented migrants. They increase the maximum sentence for people driving illegally without a license; enhance penalties for a crime committed by a person who returns to the country after deportation; and establish that Florida will not recognize identifications issued to undocumented migrants.
Immigrants near UGA have differing views on political rhetoric
The diversity of Athens, a community of about 130,000 in northeast Georgia, is exemplified by the range of opinions on Riley’s case.
Business owner Elle Lewis said political vitriol after Riley’s death has fueled anti-immigrant hate – even against those in the US legally.
“It makes me very concerned about the safety of people who look like me,” said Lewis, an immigrant from Jamaica.
“People have actually yelled at my friend, who is Latina. But she was born here … she’s been yelled at (in) her car,” Lewis said. “Somebody has spit at my friend … because she’s Chinese. So it’s become really hyped up.”
Lewis said Riley has “become this beacon” for political rhetoric so intense, it has almost overshadowed the tragedy of her death.
“Her father actually spoke out and did ask people to stop using her as a political talking point – and it hasn’t stopped,” Lewis said. “They have exploited this young girl’s death.”
Riley’s father, Jason Riley, told NBC News in March he felt “angry” that his daughter’s case has been “used politically to get those votes.” While he said he supports Trump and the need to secure the southern border, Riley’s father told NBC he’d prefer his daughter’s death “not be so political.”
But Christian Andrade, a senior at UGA who comes from a Mexican immigrant family, said politicians’ rhetoric doesn’t bother him.
“I know I don’t represent everyone in the Latino (community),” he said. “(But) it don’t really affect me. … I know I’m a citizen. You can’t kick me out.”
As for some of the recent criticism from Republicans, “I see it as they’re trying to protect their country. To them, that genuinely is an issue,” Andrade said.
“There was an undocumented immigrant who (allegedly) murdered a woman running in the woods. She was just going to run in the woods.” he said. “I would say this situation has affected me more in hearing my friends who are girls not feel safe. That’s how it’s affecting me more, to be honest.”
But Andrade said he knows even Latino US citizens like himself could face backlash from anti-immigrant beliefs.
“When I heard that it was an undocumented immigrant who (allegedly) committed the murder, I was so like, ‘Man, now this gives people a reason to talk bad about my kind, my people,’” Andrade said.
“I’ve known since I was little that people might look at me a certain way,” he said. “I’m already brown. I’m already Mexican … I have to hold myself to the highest standard just so that you will put me into consideration with the others.”
‘We lost one of the brightest lights’
Riley’s death devastated both the UGA and Augusta University communities. She was a UGA student until May 2023 before studying nursing at Augusta’s College of Nursing campus in Athens.
At a vigil co-hosted by Riley’s Alpha Chi Omega sorority at UGA, the chapter president said, “We lost one of the brightest lights that there’s ever been. This campus and our sisterhood will never (be) the same without Laken Riley.”
Augusta University’s College of Nursing said Riley was a “promising future nurse” whose “compassion and care for others is evident.”
Riley had just made the fall dean’s list and received her honorary white coat, “symbolizing humanism, compassion, and the start of her nurse’s journey,” the nursing college said on Facebook. She was set to graduate in 2025.
“The College of Nursing will miss Laken’s spirit on campus, and our hearts go out to her family and friends,” the statement said. “We know that she would have been a wonderful nurse, and her passing is a loss for the profession and the communities she would have graciously served.”
Riley’s younger sister, Lauren Phillips, memorialized her “best friend” in an Instagram post.
“The best sister and my built-in best friend from the very first second,” she wrote. “I’m not sure how I’m going to do this but it’s all going to be for you from now on. I cannot wait to give you the biggest hug someday. I will miss and love you forever Laken.”
CNN’s Shawn Nottingham, Eric Levenson, Priscilla Alvarez, Rafael Romo, Kaanita Iyer, Jason Morris, David J. Lopez, Elizabeth Wolfe, Kate Sullivan and Steve Conterno contributed to this report.
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