The man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley was found guilty of murder Wednesday in a case that became a flashpoint in the immigration debate earlier this year ahead of the presidential election.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, was convicted on three counts of felony murder and counts of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape and “peeping Tom.” He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The decision was handed down by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard on the fourth day of a bench trial. Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial and did not testify in his own defense. Sobbing could be heard in the courtroom as the judge delivered the verdict.
Prosecutors said Ibarra accosted Riley while she was out for a run on the morning of Feb. 22. She was found dead in a forested area off the University of Georgia campus in Athens after her roommates called police when she did not return home.
Riley’s killing drew national attention to the immigration debate after officials announced that Ibarra is a Venezuelan citizen who entered the United States illegally in 2022. Donald Trump and other Republicans met with Riley’s parents before a campaign rally in March and have used the case to call for stricter border policies.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Ibarra killed Riley after she fought off his attempt to rape her. The prosecution pointed to DNA and other evidence that they said linked Ibarra to Riley on the day of her murder.
In closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutor Sheila Ross told the judge that Laken Riley “herself has given you all the evidence you need alone to find this man guilty of every single count in this indictment.”
Ross said Riley fought her attacker and “it is a direct result of that fight that gives you all the physical evidence you need to convict.”
Defense attorneys said that the evidence, while it shows that Riley was murdered, did not tie Ibarra to the killing without a reasonable doubt. Instead, they said Ibarra’s brother, Diego Ibarra, could have killed the nursing student.
Kaitlyn Beck said in her closing argument that two alternative theories could not fully be ruled out: that Diego was responsible for Riley’s murder or that “Jose was an accomplice after the fact of the murder.”
She sought to undermine the prosecution’s evidence by suggesting the DNA was subject to contamination because Jose Ibarra and Diego Ibarra shared clothing and a bed.