The Laken Riley murder trial got underway on Friday in Athens, Georgia — where Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan man who entered the country illegally, stands accused of killing the 22-year-old University of Georgia college student.
Riley’s body was found on February 22, after she failed to return home from a run. Ibarra, 26, was arrested the following morning and charged with one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder and one count each of kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, hindering an emergency telephone call, tampering with evidence and being a peeping Tom.
He has pleaded not guilty.
While Ibarra was initially set for a jury trial, the judge agreed to a bench trial on Tuesday — meaning the defendant’s fate will be decided by a judge and not a jury.
During the first day of the trial, Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, was seen breaking down in court (center above)
Prosecutor Sheila Ross, in her opening statements on Friday, said Ibarra “went hunting for females on the University of Georgia campus, and on his hunt he encountered 22-year-old Laken Riley on her morning jog.”
“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly. The evidence will show that Laken fought,” she continued. “She fought for her life, she fought for her dignity, and in that fight, she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind. She also marked her killer for the entire world to see.”
Ross then laid out the prosecution’s timeline, using digital evidence gathered from security cameras, 911 calls and Riley’s own fitness watch.
Per Ross, at 4:30am and 5:27am on the morning of Riley’s murder, Ibarra shared photos of himself to Snapchat in which he was seen wearing an Adidas hat, black jacket and hoodie (left above).
At 6:52am, a man appearing to wear the same outfit was then seen heading toward campus in security footage (center), where he then attempted to open another student’s door while she showered (right).
The prosecution said this man, who they believe is Ibarra, went up to the door six times in the span of an hour, trying to open it twice. The student inside called police, reporting a Peeping Tom.
At 9:03am, Riley was seen leaving her home on a Ring camera, before a trail cam picked her up at 9:05. That’s the last time she was seen alive, headed toward the crime scene.
Then, at 9:11, said Ross, Riley activated the emergency services feature on her phone to call 911. The 1 minute, 8 second call was played for the court, in which the operator can been heard saying, “Hello” repeatedly, before asking, “Can anyone hear me?”
Only the sounds of birds and a muffled male’s voice could be heard. When the phone hung up, police attempted calling back twice, but received no answer.
Riley’s body was found shortly after 12:30pm that same day, in a wooded area off the trail.
“She was hidden, almost under a tree, covered up with a bunch of leaves. Her breasts were completely exposed. All three layers of her clothing were pulled up around her neck,” said Ross. “Her underwear was protruding from her tights … [she had] severe injuries to the left side of her head. She was dead, she was cold.”
Using medical data pulled from her Garmin watch, Ross said it showed Riley was running and listening to music when “something” suddenly happened to her. “He does something to her, to make her stop dead in her tracks,” she claimed.
“Her heart rate is still going until 9:28am. Her encounter with him was long. Her fight with him was fierce and that is what the Garmin data shows,” added Ross. “Once her heart stops at 9:28am, there’s no more movement form her Garmin.”
As police looked for a lead, they started “dumpster diving,” said Ross — with one officer finding a black hoodie with “long, dark hair on it” and blood stains. A security camera pointed at the dumpster then showed someone holding an Adidas hat and wearing the same shirt Ibarra was seen in wearing in another Snapchat photo walking toward the bin and dropping the jacket inside (split above). He was also seen leaving something in the nearby bushes, which were later found to be black disposable gloves with blood on them.
While police continued to search the area the following morning, they came across Ibarra’s brother, Diego, wearing the same Adidas hat. They eventually got a warrant for his apartment and found Jose asleep inside.
Per Ross, DNA of both Riley and Ibarra was found on the jacket, while the hair was “consistent with Laken’s” and appeared “forcibly removed from her head.” Ross also said Ibarra’s DNA was left under her fingernails, while his thumbprint was left on her iPhone screen.
Detailing the attack on Riley, Ross also said a sexual assault kit came back negative for male DNA, though her underwear had been torn. She said Riley suffered a complex, depressed skull fracture, as well as 8 lacerations of the skull “which literally look like holes,” and abrasions to the neck, face and torso.
“The evidence that Jose Ibarra killed anyone is circumstantial,” Ibarra’s attorney, Dustin W. Kirby, shared in his opening statement. Kirby also claimed it would take “gymnastics” for prosecutors to prove his client was the killer.
“We waived a jury trial in this case, with the hope and trust that despite the nature of this evidence that you could come to a verdict that was not just a way of of easing this family suffering, but it was based on an impartial and honest assessment of the evidence in this case,” he also said.
“If that happens and the presumption of innocence is respected, there should not be enough evidence to convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Ibarra is guilty of the crimes charged,” he added.
Much has been made of Ibarra’s criminal history and immigration status since his arrest.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed Ibarra entered the country illegally from Venezuela in September 2022 — and was arrested by border patrol at the time. He was released pending review of his case. ICE also said he was arrested again a year later, in August 2023, in New York and charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17, and with motor vehicle license violation. He was reportedly released by NY authorities before ICE could take him into custody.
Donald Trump called attention to the case throughout his presidential campaign, as he and other Republicans focus on crimes allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants and border policy.
The trial is ongoing.
