By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-20 16:44:49 | Updated at 2024-11-23 21:22:33
3 days ago
Laken Riley's killer Jose Ibarra has been found guilty of her murder by a Georgia judge.
The undocumented Venezuelan migrant, 26, had pleaded not guilty to the 22-year-old nursing's students February, 2023, murder near the University of Georgia.
Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard found him guilty after he waived his right to a jury trial. The trial began on Friday.
Riley's family sobbed as the decision was read, while Ibarra did not show a strong reaction.
The case fueled the immigration debate during this year's presidential election.
Laken Riley's killer Jose Ibarra has been found guilty of her murder
Riley's body was found less than an hour after she was reported missing, near a lake on the University of Georgia campus
Family members and friends of Laken Riley listen to closing arguments on Wednesday
Riley's body was found less than an hour after she was reported missing, near a lake on the University of Georgia campus. She had been a student there until 2023, when she transferred to Augusta.
Her roommates had reported her missing after becoming concerned that she had been out for longer than usual.
On Friday prosecutors said Ibarra's DNA was a direct match to the DNA under Riley's fingernails, and was '10 billion times more probable than a coincidental match.'
During the trial's first day, officials also showed images of suspicious scratches on Ibarra's body at the time of his arrest.
Ibarra illegally entered the US through US-Mexico border in 2022.
Donald Trump met backstage at his Rome, Georgia rally on Saturday with the family and friends of Laken Riley, including the roommate who reported her missing
