The Venezuelan migrant accused of murdering Georgia nursing student Laken Riley entered a not guilty plea during a court appearance Friday .
Jose Ibarra, 26 — who illegally came into the US over the southern border — is accused of killing the 22-year-old by inflicting blunt-force trauma to her head and “asphyxiating her in a manner unknown to jurors.”
In addition to facing 10 counts in connection with Riley’s murder, Ibarra faces further charges for allegedly peeping at a University of Georgia staff member on the same day as the slaying.
Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, was present in court Friday and was seen sobbing when Ibarra entered the court room, according to Fox News.
Ibarra had been living near the University of Georgia and allegedly murdered Riley, who had gone for a run round campus, close by.
The aspiring nurse’s body was found about five minutes away from Ibarra’s apartment, accroding to police.
UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark called the incident a “crime of opportunity.”
Ibarra entered the US illegally in El Paso, Texas, on September 2022, but was released after about a day in custody, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement insiders.
The Venezualan national then made his way to New York City, where he lived in a shelter provided by the city, while posting pictures of himself smiling at Big Apple landmarks.
While in New York months before he allegedly killed Riley, Ibarra was arrested for endangering a child.
Ibarra was charged with a felony and released.
He later left New York for Athens, Georgia, where his brother, Diego Ibarra, resided.
Diego Ibarra was arrested the same day as his brother and lived in the same house. He has been charged with green card fraud after he presented police officers a fake permanent residencty card. He has also been linked to the Venezuelan gang El Tren de Aragua.
Jose Ibarra has also been listed as part of the same deadly Venezuelan prison gang on internal Department of Homeland Security documents seen by The Post.
