Opening statements were made on Friday in the trial of Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant accused of killing 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley in February.
Ibarra, 26, waived his right to a jury trial and will instead leave his fate in the hands of a judge, CNN reported. Ibarra is charged with 10 counts, including murder, kidnapping, and aggravated assault with intent to rape Riley, who was found murdered after she went jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens.
“On Feb. 22, Jose Ibarra put on a black hat, a hoodie-style jacket, and some black kitchen-style disposable gloves, and he went hunting for females on the University of Georgia campus,” prosecutor Sheila Ross said in her opening statements on Friday, according to Fox News.
“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her head in with a rock repeatedly,” Ross added.
Ibarra and his brothers, all illegally in the country from Venezuela, lived just half a mile from the park where Riley was running on the day she was killed.
Ibarra’s defense attorney, Dustin Kirby, said during his opening statements that there was not enough evidence to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Ibarra is the man who murdered Riley.
“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’s suffering, but it was based on an impartial and honest assessment of the evidence in this case,” Kirby said, according to Fox. “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.”
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Later on Friday, with Laken Riley’s mother crying uncontrollably, the 911 call that captured her daughter’s final moments alive was played in court, the New York Post reported. A male voice can be heard briefly on the muffled audio.
“Clark County 911. Hello, Clark County 911. Can anyone hear me?” the 911 operator repeated during the phone call, which lasted less than a minute. The operator attempted to call back, but no one answered, Ross said on Friday.
The 911 call was placed at 9:11 a.m. on February 22, 2024, just eight minutes after Riley left her home to begin her jog.
Snapchat photos from Ibarra’s phone show what he was wearing on the day of Riley’s murder, and a mixture of Riley’s and Ibarra’s DNA was found on a dark blue jacket Ibarra allegedly threw away soon after Riley’s murder. The hair on that jacket was also “consistent” with Riley’s, though that doesn’t mean it was a DNA match.
Riley’s murder sparked a national outcry and led to the passage of the “Laken Riley Act” by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, a bill requiring federal officials to arrest illegal immigrants charged with theft, as Ibarra had been before Riley’s murder.
