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An undocumented immigrant accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley — a killing that has sparked renewed debate over the border crisis — has waived his right to a jury trial and agreed to a bench trial, where a judge will decide his guilt or innocence.
With the prosecution’s consent, Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard approved the waiver of 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra. Through his translator, Ibarra told the judge he understood he could not change his decision.
Riley, a 22-year-old student at Augusta College of Nursing, was shot and killed on February 22 while jogging on the University of Georgia campus.
Ibarra is an undocumented migrant from Venezuela whose case has renewed a fierce debate among politicians about who is to blame for the border crisis.
Jury selection for the trial was initially scheduled to begin Wednesday. The trial will now begin at 9 a.m. Friday and continue Monday, Haggard said.
For a bench trial, evidence and testimony from witnesses or experts will be presented to a judge in open court, much like it would be presented to a jury.
The move to a bench trial came after a judge denied a motion by Ibarra’s defense attorneys to suppress some evidence in the case before trial, court records show.
Ibarra was indicted in May on 10 counts, including charges related to Riley’s death and another incident in which Ibarra allegedly went to a UGA apartment building the same day as the murder, looked through a window and spied on a student, his indictment said.
Prosecutors intend to seek life in prison without the possibility of parole if Ibarra is convicted of the most serious charges, Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez said, according to court records.
How morning jogging became fatal
Riley went for a morning run on the UGA campus, where she studied until May 2023 before transferring to Augusta University.
Police began searching for Riley after receiving a call around noon on Feb. 22 from a friend who said Riley had not returned from running on UGA’s intramural fields, UGA Police Chief Jeff Clark said.
Less than an hour later, Riley’s body was found near the lake.
Police linked Ibarra to Riley’s slaying using footage from campus security cameras, physical evidence and key input from the community, Clark said.
Ibarra hit Riley several times in the head with a rock and choked her, according to his indictment.
Ibarra was arrested the day after Riley’s death. Investigators said there was no evidence he and Riley knew each other, and police described the killing as a “crime of opportunity.”
The student’s death causes a political storm
Ibarra was arrested in 2022 after entering the U.S. illegally and was “conditionally released pending further processing,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
NYPD also arrested him in September 2023 and charged him with “acting in a manner to injure a child under the age of 17 and a driver’s license violation,” ICE said in a press release. But police released Ibarra “before a warrant could be issued,” ICE said.
When asked about ICE’s announcement of Ibarra’s arrest and release, the New York Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information said it had no record of Ibarra’s arrest.
By February 2024, Ibarra was living in Athens, Georgia – home of the University of Georgia, where Riley was killed.
Republican President-elect Donald Trump blamed the Biden administration’s immigration policies for contributing to Riley’s death.
In the months leading up to the election, Trump promised to carry out a large-scale deportation of undocumented migrants.
Riley’s parents attended a Trump rally in March and met with Trump backstage, campaign co-chairman Chris LaCivita said.
Democrats have also referenced Riley’s death in political speeches. During the campaign for presidential candidate Kamala Harris in October, former President Bill Clinton, supporting President Joe Biden’s push to secure the border, criticized Trump for rejecting a bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.
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