The undocumented migrant accused of killing Laken Riley was “hunting for females” when he came across the jogging Georgia nursing student, who “fought for her life” and fired off a 911 call before she was violently murdered, prosecutors said.
Opening statements in the bench trial of Jose Ibarra kicked off in Athens-Clarke County on Friday, days after he waived his right to a jury trial, opting instead to leave his fate in the hands of Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard. He has been charged with murder, aggravated assault with intent to rape, and other crimes related to Riley’s death.
Riley — a 22-year-old student at Augusta University in Athens — was reported missing on Feb. 22 by a friend, who became concerned when she did not return from her morning jog. Her brutally beaten body was found hours later in a wooded area near the intramural fields on the University of Georgia Athens campus.
“The evidence will show that Laken fought,” special prosecutor Sheila Ross told the court. “She fought for her life, she fought for her dignity. And in that fight she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind,” including his DNA beneath her fingernails.
Data from the smartwatch Riley was wearing at the time revealed that her encounter with Ibarra “was long,” and “fierce,” Ross continued.
Allyson Phillips, left, mother of Laken Riley, reacts as John Phillips, Riley’s stepfather, comforts her during Jose Ibarra’s trial in Athens, Ga. on Friday. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Around 9:11 a.m., Riley activated the emergency function of her iPhone and called 911, a recording of which was played in court Friday. It captured little other than Riley’s muffled struggle against her attacker and the dispatcher’s efforts to connect with her before the call ended at 9:12 a.m.
By 9:28 a.m., Riley’s heart had stopped with no additional movement recorded by her watch. In that timeframe, Ibarra tried to sexually assault the nursing student, but when she “refused to be a rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly,” Ross said. The attack left her Riley’s head “disfigured” according to court documents. Her cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation and blunt force trauma.
Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who entered the United States illegally, was arrested the following day on Feb. 23. He faces 10 counts in total, including 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 last charge stems from allegations that Ibarra was peering into the windows of a UGA apartment building the same day as the murder, spying on a student inside the residence.
Defense attorney John Donnelly meanwhile argued Friday that there is not enough proof to blame his client for Riley’s killing.
“The evidence in this case is very good, that Laken Riley was murdered,” Donnelly said. “The evidence that Jose Ibarra killed Laken Riley is circumstantial.”
Riley’s murder and Ibarra’s subsequent arrest fanned the flames of conflict surrounding immigration in the United States, becoming a major talking point in the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election.
In the immediate aftermath of the grisly violence, Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump, blamed the Biden administration and its immigration policies for Riley’s death.
Donald Trump supporters hold up pictures of Laken Riley at a rally in Georgia in March. (Getty)
President Biden during his State of the Union mentioned Riley by name, and then later apologized for referring to her suspected killer as an “illegal” immigrant rather than “undocumented.”
“Joe Biden went on television and apologized for calling Laken’s murderer an illegal,” Trump later fired back. “Biden should be apologizing for apologizing to this killer.”
Prosecutors previously said they would not seek the death penalty in the case. If convicted, Ibarra faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.