A man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has been found guilty of murder in a case that fueled the national debate over immigration during this year’s presidential race.
Jose Ibarra, 26, a Venezuelan native who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022, was charged with murder and other crimes in the February 22 death of Riley, who was found dead on the running trails on the campus in Athens while out for a morning jog.
Following his conviction, Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The decision was made on Wednesday by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard after Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial.
Ibarra’s trial came to a close on Wednesday morning after three days of testimony. Prosecutors called 29 witnesses, including law enforcement officers, Riley’s roommates, and a woman who lived in the same apartment as Ibarra.
Prosecutor Sheila Ross said in her opening that Ibarra had been “hunting” for women on the day of the murder but when he came across Riley she “fought” back. When she “refused to be a rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly.”
Defense attorney Dustin Kirby said that Riley’s death was a tragedy and called the evidence in the case graphic and disturbing. But he argued there is not sufficient evidence to prove that it was Ibarra and questioned how his fingerprints could be on the phone if he was supposedly wearing gloves.
“The evidence in this case is very good that Laken Riley was murdered,” Kirby said. “The evidence that Jose Ibarra killed Laken Riley is circumstantial.”
The defense called a police officer, a jogger and one of Ibarra’s neighbors on Tuesday and rested their case Wednesday morning.
Riley’s parents, family and friends packed the courtroom each day, many of them getting emotional as they listened to witness testimony.
Ibarra, dressed each day in a collared shirt and dark slacks with his feet chained, appeared attentive throughout the trial.
Riley’s family and loved ones provided testimony during the trial, outlining in tragic detail how her loss has affected their lives.
“I no longer run every day,” Riley’s roommate, Connolly Huth said. “I cannot imagine running, when I constantly am looking over my shoulder in public, wondering if I am next. I live with excruciating guilt every day, that I was not accompanying Laken on this run, and that it was her, and not me, and I hope and pray that it will never happen again to anyone.”
Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, gave heartbreaking testimony, saying Ibarra “ripped away every beautiful memory we will ever be able to make with [Riley] again.”
“Laken’s life was not the only life taken on that day that Jose Ibarra attacked her. The life of her family and friends was taken, too. None of us will ever be the same,” she said. “This monster took away our chances to see Laken graduate from nursing school. He took away our ability to meet our future son-in-law. He destroyed our chances of meeting our grandchildren. And he took my best friend.”
President-elect Donald Trump, who often used Riley’s death to push anti-immigrant rhetoric on the campaign trail, also commented on the judgement.
“JUSTICE FOR LAKEN RILEY! The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Although the pain and heartbreak will last forever, hopefully this can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family who fought for Justice, and to ensure that other families don’t have to go through what they have.”
