The man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley was found guilty on Wednesday after the case was was the top of the topic in the the immigration debate earlier this year ahead of the presidential election.
The accused Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, was found guilty and convicted with three counts of felony murder and counts of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape and “peeping Tom. The accused was sent to life in prison with no option of parole.
The Judgement was passed by the Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard after four days of the bench trial of the suspect. In the case, Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial and did not testify in his own defense. The individuals in the court were heard sobbing as the judgement was being delivered by the judge.
According to the prosecutor, the accused Ibarra accosted Riley while she was out for her early morning runs on February 22. The persecutor noted that she was found dead in the area which was mostly first around the University of Georgia campus in Athens after her disappearance was reported to the police by her roommate when she failed to return home.
The killing of Riley was a national topic with the issue as key attention during the immigration debate after officials announced that Ibarra was a Venezuelan citizen who entered the United States illegally in 2022. In the build-up to the election, Donald Trump and other republican candidates had met with the family, during the meeting they went on to call for more strict border security and policies.
While the case was on trial the prosecutor explained that the accused had gone on to kill Riley after they had engaged in a fight because of his attempt to rape her. The prosecution pointed to DNA and other evidence that they said linked Ibarra to Riley on the day of her murder.
In his last argument, on the case on Wednesday, the prosecutor Sheila Ross told the judge that Laken Riley herself has given you all the evidence you need alone to find the man guilty of every single count in this indictment.
Rose further stated that the attack led to a fight which presented the shreds of evidence that were available. Rose further noted that it was a direct result of that fight that gave all the physical evidence needed to convict the accused.
Defense counsel stated that the evidence, while it shows that Riley was murdered, did not tie Ibarra to the killing without a reasonable doubt. Rather, they said Ibarra’s brother, Diego Ibarra, could have killed the nursing student.
Kaitlyn Beck stated in her closing statement that two alternative approaches could not fully be ruled out: that Diego was responsible for Riley’s murder or that Jose was an accomplice after the fact of the murder.
She aimed to sabotage the prosecution’s evidence by suggesting the DNA was subject to contamination because Jose Ibarra and Diego Ibarra shared clothing and a bed.
