Jose Ibarra listens through an interpreter during the second day of his trial at the Athens-Clarke County Superior Court in Athens, Georgia, on Monday. (Miguel Martinez – Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Pool / AP)
By Randy DeSoto November 20, 2024 at 10:38am
A Georgia judge found illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra guilty on all ten counts Wednesday in the murder of nursing student Laken Riley in February.
Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard announced the verdict finding the Venezuelan national guilty of malice murder and felony murder, as well as 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, CNN reported.
Ibarra had waived his right to a jury trial.
Laken Riley’s Killer: GUILTY!#JusticeForLakenRiley pic.twitter.com/x7YxCn8FcK
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 20, 2024
Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University College of Nursing, had gone a run on the University of Georgia’s campus when Ibarra attacked her on Feb. 22.
“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly,” prosecutor Sheila Ross told Haggard on Friday when the trial began.
Police had been alerted to Riley’s location from her cell phone after she made a 911 call at 9:11 a.m. on Feb. 22. The dispatcher answered, but no one responded. The dispatcher then called back, but no one picked up.
Body cam footage is played as evidence in court from the officer that found Laken Riley’s body after being brutally murdered by an illegal alien
The judge allows anyone in the courtroom that may be disturbed to leave the courtroom before it is played pic.twitter.com/teWGL6k0zT
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) November 15, 2024
Do you agree with the verdict?
Athens-Clarke County police sergeant Kenneth Maxwell, who found Riley’s body, testified Friday that her shirt had been removed above her breasts and her running tights had been pulled down.
CNN reported that in addition to the charges directly related to Ibarra’s assault and murder of Riley, he was also convicted of violating Georgia’s “peeping Tom” law for “going to a UGA apartment building on the same day as Riley’s death, looking through the window and spying on a student prior to his encounter with Riley.”
DNA evidence found under Riley’s nails and on bloodied clothes Ibarra had worn linked him directly to the murder, ABC News reported.
He also had scratch marks on his neck and back.
Riley’s murder became a 2024 presidential campaign issue, with President-elect Donald Trump and other Republicans blaming President Joe Biden’s lax border policies for her death.
WATCH: At the border, Trump says he has spoken to the parents of Laken Riley, who was bludgeoned to death by an illegal alien
“Joe Biden will never say Laken Riley’s name, but we will say it.” pic.twitter.com/pHlsvwL2Wy
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 29, 2024
Ibarra illegally crossed the southern border into the U.S. in September 2022 at El Paso, Texas, and was apprehended and released into the U.S.
Randy DeSoto has written more than 3,000 articles for The Western Journal since he began with the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book “We Hold These Truths” and screenwriter of the political documentary “I Want Your Money.”
Birthplace
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated dean’s list from West Point
Education
United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law
Books Written
We Hold These Truths
Professional Memberships
Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment, Faith
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