Murder of Laken Riley: Georgia Senator demands death penalty for Jose Ibarra

A senator is demanding that Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr file an emergency motion to intervene and seek the death penalty Laken Riley’s killer.

District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez, for the Western Judicial District that includes Athens, previously wrote in court documents that she would not seek the death penalty, citing “collateral consequences for undocumented suspects.”

Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant who received taxpayer-funded flights, was found guilty Wednesday of stalking, raping and killing Riley in February. The nursing student, who was running on the University of Georgia campus in the early morning, fought with her attacker for about 18 minutes but died of blunt force trauma. Ibarra hit her skull with a rock after dragging her off a forest path, prosecutors said.

“I am officially calling on Attorney General Chris Carr to file an emergency motion to intervene and seek the death penalty for Laken Riley’s killer,” Senator Colton Moore, a Republican, wrote on X. “District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez showed her The radical political agenda stands in the way of justice by refusing to seek the death penalty, she denied Laken’s family, friends, and community the full measure of justice they deserved.

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“Join me in calling on AG Chris Carr to demand the death penalty for Jose Ibarra,” he said.

In response to a Fox News Digital question about Gonzalez’s reasoning, the district attorney’s office told Fox News Digital that the reference to collateral consequences for undocumented suspects is “DA Gonzalez’s position on sentencing in general.” .

“Life without parole is an appropriately severe sentence and is a decision supported by the family, as heard in the impact statements made by Laken Riley’s family and friends during yesterday’s sentencing,” a spokesperson for Gonzalez added to.

A spokesperson for Carr’s office claimed the attorney general has no jurisdiction and therefore cannot intervene, but Moore argued otherwise.

‘I can send you a copy of the Constitution of Georgiasection 3, paragraph 4. It clearly states that the attorney general has jurisdiction in any felony case,” Moore told Fox News Digital. “And the state, I mean the attorney general’s office, has intervened in cases before. You know, he’s our state’s top law enforcement officer. He should have known that the district attorney is one of the most liberal prosecutors in the country, and that she had no intention of seeking the death penalty. Why do we even have the death penalty in our state?”

“I mean clear evidence, it’s not like we’re killing an innocent person here,” Moore said. “I mean, his DNA was under Laken Riley’s fingernails. It was very clear that he was the perpetrator. He’s to blame. And we have the death penalty in our state for a reason. And I can’t imagine any other crime that deserves the death penalty. Like his crime, he is the chief law enforcement officer; the constitution clearly states that he has jurisdiction.”

Moore noted how Ibarra received taxpayer-funded flights and that taxpayers will now foot the bill to house and feed him after Riley’s killer was sentenced to life without parole.

“I’m very concerned, you know, about every student who goes to the University of Georgia, when this area is now a sanctuary city. And you know, these killers, these guys can come in here, and they don’t have to. concerns about the death penalty,” Moore told Fox News Digital. “That’s probably what we as taxpayers have to pay $2 million to give him three meals and a bed for the rest of his life. You know, three hots and a bed.”

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As for Carr’s failure to intervene, Moore said he will “work hard to get a different attorney general in the next election.”

“It is rumored that he is planning to run for governor. You know, I’ll do everything I can to campaign against him and hoping for a new governor, because I certainly don’t want that for the future of our state. ,” said Moore.

Carr launched his gubernatorial campaign for the 2026 race this week.

Moore said it wasn’t enough that Carr appeared on Fox & Friends last week and decried the 2020 criminal justice reforms when Gonzalez took office as district attorney.

“As a father, the Attorney General believes that the Court should have considered the harshest possible sentence given the heinous nature of the sentence. the crimes committed. Unfortunately, the current Athens District Attorney disagreed,” Carr’s spokesperson Kara Murray said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Under Georgia’s Constitution and law, the Attorney General does not have the authority to do what some are suggesting. The decision not to seek the death penalty was solely at the discretion of the local district attorney, who had exclusive jurisdiction over this case.”

In a separate statement responding to the verdict, Carr said Riley’s death “should never have happened” and “it is absolutely heartbreaking to hear the evidence that Laken Riley fought for her life and for her dignity, and the statements that have been given to her. family and friends in the courtroom break my heart.”

“We are grateful to Sheila Ross of the Board of Prosecuting Attorneys for helping to secure a conviction, and we will continue to pray for all who knew and loved Laeken,” Carr said.

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Gonzalez lost her re-election bid this month. She turned over the prosecution of Ibarra to Sheila Ross in February.