A promising young nursing student was on her morning jog nine months ago when a violent Venezuelan gangster ‘went hunting for females’ on her college campus.
Laken Riley was brutally murdered on February 22 this year when Jose Antonio Ibarra, a migrant who illegally entered the US at the Mexico border in 2022, attempted to rape her.
Riley, 22, fought for an excruciating 18 minutes before Ibarra, a known member of the brutal Tren de Aragua gang, snuffed her life out.
Her body was found less than an hour after she was reported missing, near a lake on the University of Georgia campus. Authorities determined she died of blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation.
But the aspiring nurse’s heartbroken family finally received some semblance of justice after months of torment on Wednesday when Ibarra, 26, was convicted of all 10 counts against him.
A judge sentenced the undocumented migrant, who had waived his right to a jury trial, to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty in the case.
The family had urged the judge to give ‘monster’ Ibarra the maximum penalty ‘so that he never gets the chance to hurt anyone else ever again’.
Riley’s horrific killing shocked the nation and fueled the immigration debate during the US presidential election.
Donald Trump, whose successful campaign for the White House rested largely on an anti-immigration platform, railed against illegal migrants, blaming them for ‘poisoning the blood’ of the country and likening them to ‘animals’ and ‘monsters’.
Laken Riley’s family received some semblance of justice after months of torment on Wednesday when her killer was convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Riley, 22, (left) is pictured with her heartbroken mother Allyson Phillips (center) and stepfather John Phillips (right)
Jose Antonio Ibarra murdered Laken Riley on February 22 this year after attempting to rape her. Ibarra, pictured, illegally entered the US at the Mexico border in 2022
Ibarra, 26, attacked the promising young nursing student while she was on her morning jog. Riley, pictured minutes before she was killed, fought for her life for 18 minutes as Ibarra attempted to rape her before having her life snuffed out
Riley was seen jogging through the University of Georgia campus on security camera footage at 9.05am on February 22, just minutes before she was attacked.
She had been running for approximately 23 minutes before Ibarra, whom prosecutors claim had been ‘out prowling and hunting females’, turned to the running trails looking for a victim.
Riley fought for her life for 18 minutes as Ibarra attempted to rape her before having her life snuffed out.
‘When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock, repeatedly,’ Georgia special prosecutor Sheila Ross told Ibarra’s trial.
‘The evidence will show that Laken fought. She fought for her life. She fought for her dignity,’ Ross adeed.
‘She marked her killer for the entire world to see. It is his DNA. Only his DNA, underneath Laken’s right fingernails… He left behind his thumbprint on her iPhone, which was found near her body at the scene of the crime.’
According to a smartwatch tracking her heartbeat, Riley died at 9.28am after she was allegedly beaten in the head with a rock.
Authorities determined Riley Laken, pictured, died of blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation. Her body was found less than an hour after she was reported missing, near a lake on the University of Georgia campus
CCTV footage identified Ibarra as he dumped a bloody jacket in a dumpster near his home, 15 minutes after Riley’s heart stopped
The jacket was recovered from the dumpster and taken for forensic testing, revealing a mix of Riley’s DNA and Ibarra’s DNA. Strands of long, black hair were tied to the buttons of the jacket, which ‘matched Riley’s hair and were forced off her head’
Her body was found near a lake on the University of Georgia campus less than an hour after her roommates reported her missing. Riley had been a student at the school until 2023, when she transferred to Augusta University.
In addition to finding Ibarra’s DNA under Riley’s fingertips, the murderer was also seen on CCTV footage dumping a bloody jacket in a dumpster near his home just 15 minutes after Riley’s heart stopped.
Investigators examined the jacket and found a mixture of both Riley and Ibarra’s DNA. Long brunette strands of hair were wrapped around a button on the jacket which were ‘consistent with Riley’s hair and forcibly removed from her head.’
Ross added that Riley’s body had been found off the running trail and she ‘was hidden under a tree’ and covered in foliage.
The court also heard that her breasts were exposed, and her underwear was forcibly torn. A sexual assault and rape kit returned a negative result.
Ibarra’s trial began Friday, and prosecutors called more than a dozen law enforcement officers, Riley’s roommates and a woman who lived in the same apartment as Ibarra to the stand.
Defense attorneys called a police officer, a jogger and one of Ibarra’s neighbors on Tuesday and rested their case Wednesday morning.
Laken Riley’s killer Jose Ibarra, pictured in court on Wednesday, was found guilty of all 10 counts against him: one count of malice murder; three counts of felony murder; and one count each of kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing an emergency call, evidence tampering and being a peeping Tom
Allyson Phillips, seen on the speaking stand, asked Judge H. Patrick Haggard to bring down the full weight of the law on the killer
Family members and friends of Laken Riley react as Superior Court as Judge H.A Patrick Haggard announces the verdict on Wednesday
Throughout the trial defense attorney Kaitlyn Beck tried to cast doubt over the evidence presented in the case, including the method of DNA testing that had been used.
Beck noted that when a fingerprint found on Riley’s phone was entered into a database, Ibarra didn’t come back as a match and a specialist visually matched the prints.
She also said there was ‘doubt based on what was tested and on what was not tested’ because investigators did not test some of the evidence they had gathered.
Throughout their questioning of witnesses and in Beck’s closing, defense attorneys even tried to cast uncertainty on Ibarra’s guilt by suggesting that his brother, Diego, could not be excluded as a suspect.
But on Wednesday Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard found Ibarra guilty of all 10 counts against him: one count of malice murder; three counts of felony murder; and one count each of kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing an emergency call, evidence tampering and being a peeping Tom.
Riley’s family sobbed as the decision was read, while Ibarra did not show any reaction. He remained stone-faced as Riley’s family and friends asked judge Haggard to bring down the full weight of the law on the killer.
Riley’s mother Allyson Phillips, pictured with Laken, told the court that Ibarra ‘ripped away every beautiful memory we will ever be able to make with her again’
Laken Riley’s younger sister Lauren Phillips, pictured with Laken in photos she shared on Instagram, called Ibarra an ‘inhuman predator that is the epidemy of evil.’ She shared that she now goes to the University of Georgia and does not feel safe on campus
Allyson Phillips, pictured with Laken Riley, said Ibarra ‘showed no mercy on Laken when she was begging for her life. There is no end to the pain and suffering he inflicted’
Allyson Phillips, second from left, mother of Laken Riley, breaks down in tears as the trial of Jose Ibarra kicks off at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court on Friday. Her husband John Phillips is seen comforting her
‘He ripped away every beautiful memory we will ever be able to make with her again,’ Riley’s mother Allyson Phillips told the court. ‘This horrific individual robbed us all of our hopes and dreams for Laken.’
Phillips continued: ‘Your Honor, I’m asking you to please give Jose Ibarra the same thing he gave us when he made the choice to take Laken’s life and destroy ours. He showed no mercy on Laken when she was begging for her life. There is no end to the pain and suffering he inflicted.
‘I’m asking you to please give this monster life in prison without any chance at parole so that he never gets the chance to hurt anyone else ever again.’
In a harrowing moment, Riley’s stepfather John Phillips read one of the final entry from the student’s diary where she spoke to her future husband.
‘To my future husband, know that I am thinking of you & doing all I can to better myself to be the best wife I can be. With God’s help, I hope to have children together & a relationship filled with love,’ Riley’s entry read.
Riley’s younger sister Lauren Phillips, on her part, called Ibarra an ‘inhuman predator that is the epidemy of evil.’ She shared that she now goes to the University of Georgia and does not feel safe on campus.
She added: ‘Jose Antonio Ibarra has completely and utterly ruined my life and I can only hope and pray that he receives the sentence that ruins his.’
Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Police-worn bodycamera video shows Ibarra and his housemates waiting against a wall outside their home on February 23, the day he was questioned over Riley’s death
Ibarra was asked during this interaction about several scratches across his body
Ibarra had several suspicious scratches on his body at the time of his arrest, his trial heard
Ibarra illegally entered the US through US-Mexico border in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case.
He has been identified as a member of the brutal Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang which has been unleashing a wave of crime across America.
The court saw images of Ibarro’s brother and roommate, Diego Ibarra, who has a tattoo of a five-point crown of his neck, a symbol of association with the TdA.
TdA became a national story after shocking footage showed apparent members taking over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado.
The gang started in Venezuela’s prison and has spread through the western hemisphere as the oil-rich nation goes through the worst migrant crisis in the world.
Laken Riley’s alleged killer Jose Ibarra, 26, is a documented member of the gang Tren de Aragua, according to the Department of Homeland Security
The court was shown pictures of Ibarra’s brother Diego Ibarra on Monday. He is also a member of the Tren de Aragua
Diego Ibarra has a tattoo of a five-point crown of his neck, a symbol of association with the TDA
Ibarra’s other roommate Rosbeli Elisber Flores-Bello told the court that she moved to Georgia because Diego Ibarra had told the alleged killer there were jobs opportunities in Athens.
Flores-Bello said she met Ibarra in Queens, New York, and within a month decided to move to Georgia with him.
Diego Ibarra and a third brother, Argenis Ibarra, pleaded guilty in July to having fake green cards.
When asked how they obtained the plane tickets, Flores-Bello said they were provided by NYC officials.
‘In Manhattan, at The Roosevelt Hotel, we asked for a humanitarian flight to Atlanta, on the 9th or 10th of October, 2023,’ she testified.
Ibarra was arrested four months later for Riley’s murder.
President-elect Donald Trump has lauded the guilty verdict for Ibarra, a Venezuelan who he referred to as ‘The Illegal.’ Trump, pictured with Laken’s family and friends in March, said: ‘It is time to secure our Border, and remove these criminals and thugs from our Country, so nothing like this can happen again!’
Donald Trump met with the family and friends of Laken Riley, including the roommate who reported her missing, before his rally in Rome, Georgia in March (pictured). Riley’s horrific killing shocked the nation and fueled the immigration debate during the US presidential election
President-elect Trump has lauded the guilty verdict for Ibarra, a Venezuelan who he referred to as ‘The Illegal.’
‘It is time to secure our Border, and remove these criminals and thugs from our Country, so nothing like this can happen again!’ Trump posted to social media on Wednesday.
The Republican has promised to crack down on border crossings and to carry out mass deportations once he takes office in January.
He has named Tom Homan, a veteran hard-line immigration official, as his ‘border czar.’
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Publish date : 2024-11-21 00:30:00
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