Jose Antonio Ibarra, Venezuelan illegal immigrant charged with ‘blunt, force trauma’ murder of UGA nursing student, Laken Riley as she went running on campus.
An illegal immigrant accused of killing Georgia nursing student, Laken Riley as she went running on campus had been identified as a Venezuela man who illegally entered the US in 2022 (from El Paso, Texas) only to be released from a detention facility on account of there not being enough room at the facility.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, who was arrested Friday in connection to the murder of the 22-year-old Augusta University student, crossed into El Paso, Texas, from Venezuela in September 2022, NewsNation reported, citing Department of Homeland Security sources.
Upon his arrest, Ibarra was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, concealing the death of another and failure to appear for a finger printable charge.
Suspect was previously arrested for child endangerment
Cops said that Ibarra, who had been living in Athens, Ga. did not know the victim and the crime was a ‘random, solo act,’ WSB-TV reported.
Come Saturday, campus police stated that Riley’s cause of death was ‘blunt force trauma,’ with Ibarra now being held at Clarke County Jail.
Months before Ibarra allegedly killed Riley, he was apparently arrested in New York for endangering a child, according to NewsNation.
Police sources in New York confirmed a man by the same name and age as the Georgia suspect was arrested last year after allegedly endangering the welfare of a 5-year-old.
Riley’s body was found with ‘visible injuries’ on a trail by Lake Herrick on the nearby University of Georgia (UGA) campus Thursday, after a friend became worried when she didn’t return from her morning run.
Ibarra ‘did not know her at all. I think this is a crime of opportunity where he saw an individual and bad things happened,’ UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark said Friday night.
‘Crime of opportunity’
Although the motive is still unclear, Clark said that campus security cameras helped investigators identify Ibarra as Riley’s killer.
Ibarra moved to Athens from Venezuela, with Clark confirming that the assailant was not a U.S. citizen and that he didn’t know when Ibarra arrived in Athens.
‘He did not attend school at the University of Georgia,’ said Clark. ‘This was an individual who woke up with bad intentions that day.’
Police are also holding Ibarra’s older brother, Diego Ibarra, for having a fraudulent green card, the US Attorney for Middle Georgia confirmed.
Diego Ibarra, 29, was caught with the fake document when police approached him in connection with Riley’s killing on Friday, the office explained.
The elder Ibarra has a series of arrests in Athens, according to the DOJ.
The elder Ibarra is now in state custody and faces a maximum of 10 years behind bars.
Avid runner remembered
Riley’s friend and former roommate, Bianca Tiller, said the nursing student was an avid runner who was strict about her regular morning runs, who tracked her performance on her Apple watch.
‘She would go on runs every single day, even when we were freshmen,’ Tiller, 21, told Fox News. ‘Not a day would go by where she wouldn’t go on her runs, and if she missed a day, which was very rare, she would just get so hard on herself about it.’
Riley believed the trails she ran on along Lake Herrick were safe, Tiller said, adding that many students and local residents walk and jog there.
‘The first thing that really shocked me was that it was in the middle of the day or the morning. It wasn’t like she was running at nighttime,’ Tiller said. ‘For it to happen during the day in such a populated area, on a warm day where you would expect a lot of people to be outside, is just really shocking and didn’t really make sense.’
Riley was exceptionally kind, said Tiller, who added she did not know the victim to have any enemies.
‘She would always be there for everybody,’ Tiller said. ‘And she would just really bring everybody together and friendships together. I’ve met so many people through her, and she was just the kindest person. Like, nobody had anything terrible or even remotely bad to say about her.’
After three years at the University of Georgia, Riley entered a nursing program at Augusta University’s Athens campus, which is close to UGA.
‘She’s been wanting [to be a nurse] for a really long time,’ Tiller said. ‘She was studying biology when she was at UGA.’
Riley worked at a nursing home prior to starting college and often spoke about her time there, Tiller said.
‘No matter how little the pay was and how difficult the work was, she just really liked helping people,’ Tiller said.
Georgia which has the death penalty has not stated whether prosecutors will now seek to try Ibarra on capital murder. Ibarra remained held without bond.
