Suspect in Laken Riley’s murder waives right to jury trial

The man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has waived his right to a jury trial in the case that has drawn national attention amid outrage over the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, is on trial following his arrest earlier this year in connection with the 22-year-old’s murder. Riley was killed in February while jogging on the University of Georgia campus, with authorities later determining that the young woman died of blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation.

In a 10-count indictment, the illegal migrant from Venezuela was accused of also planning to sexually assault the Augusta University College of Nursing student. On the day of Riley’s murder, the migrant was reportedly peering through the window of an apartment in a university building. the Los Angeles Times reported.

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According to the indictment, Ibarra has been charged with one count of malice murder, three counts of murder, and one count of kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, obstructing an emergency telephone call, tampering with evidence and peeping on Tom.

According to the LA Times, prosecutors will not seek the death penalty. Instead, they will seek a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

During a recent court appearance, Athens-Clarke County Superior Judge H. Patrick Haggard questioned the suspect with the help of a translator about his decision to waive his right to a jury trial.

Prosecutor Sheila Ross informed Haggard that Ibarra’s attorneys informed her last week that they only wanted the case to be heard by a judge, with the suspect’s attorney, Kaitlyn Beck, presenting the judge with a signed waiver. Haggard noted that Ibarra agreed to the decision and said the trial would begin Friday.

Ibarra illegally entered the United States through El Paso, Texas, on September 8, 2022, and was later released for further processing.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), New York Police arrested Ibarra on August 31, 2023, and charged him with causing injury to a child and a traffic violation. However, the illegal migrant was released before ICE could request police to detain him for immigration authorities.

One August interim report of the US House Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement blamed policies under the Biden-Harris administration for Riley’s death. The report cited Ibarra as an example of the millions of illegal aliens released by the government who “committed crimes across the country.”

“The Committee’s investigation of Jose Ibarra’s A-File shows that the Biden-Harris administration’s border policies secured Jose Ibarra’s release to the United States nearly two years ago,” the report said. “Despite having lived safely in Ecuador from January 2017 through July 2022, Ibarra traveled to the United States in 2022, possibly attracted by President Biden and Vice President Harris’ open-border, no-consequence immigration policies.”

A day after Border Patrol apprehended Ibarra in September 2022, the government released him into the U.S. after determining his release was justified for “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public interest.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also cited a lack of detention space as the reason for his release, but the committee highlighted the agency’s data and argued that it could have detained Ibarra.

“As a result of his release, Ibarra was free to commit crimes in the United States, including the alleged kidnapping and murder of Laken Riley in Georgia,” the committee and its subcommittee said in the document.

Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, called her daughter’s murder an “avoidable tragedy” in a Facebook post earlier this year. She expressed her gratitude for the support she and her family received after Riley’s murder.

“As I sat down to write this post, I’m basically at a loss for words. My family has suffered the most devastating, unimaginable loss anyone would ever have to endure,” Phillips wrote. “I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for being with me and my family during this heartbreaking time. I encourage everyone to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I give Him all the glory for getting us through this helped.”