By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-18 18:31:48 | Updated at 2024-11-18 20:24:41
2 hours ago
Laken Riley's alleged killer was given a taxpayer-funded plane ticket to fly to Georgia, where he brutally murdered the college student, a court has heard.
Jose Ibarra's roommate took the stand in his murder trial on Monday and said she and the Venezuelan migrant moved together from New York City to Athens in September, 2023.
Rosbeli Elisber Flores-Bello told the court she met Ibarra in Queens and within a month decided to move to Georgia with him.
'[Ibarra] told me there was work possibilities in Athens,' Flores-Bello testified.
'His brother {Diego Ibarra] was always calling him saying there was work in Athens, so we came here.'
When asked how they obtained the plane tickets, Flores-Bello said they were provided by NYC officials.
'In Manhattan, at The Roosevelt Hotel, we asked for a humanitarian flight to Atlanta, on the 9th or 10th of October, 2023,' she claimed.
As previously reported by DailyMail.com, NYC officials have offered plane tickets to migrants who ask for them in order to mitigate the migrant crisis in the city.
Laken Riley's alleged killer was given a taxpayer-funded plane ticket by NYC officials to fly to Georgia, where he brutally murdered the college student, a court has heard
Riley's body was found less than an hour after she was reported missing, near a lake on the University of Georgia campus. She'd been a student there until 2023, when she transferred to Augusta
Flores-Bello said that a friend of Ibarra's brother picked them up in the Jackson Atlanta airport and took them to Athens apartment where Ibarra was eventually arrested.
Ibarra's other brother, Argenis, secured the apartment for the group, she added.
Ibarra, 26, was arrested four months later for the killing of 22-year-old Riley.
He denies murdering Riley on February 22 as she went for a run near her home at the University of Georgia.
Flores-Bello said she informed Ibarra of Riley's murder the day after her body was found and that he showed no reaction.
Also on Monday police officer Rafael Sayan told the court that Ibarra and his brothers were laughing when officials arrived at their door to ask about the murder.
'There was a lot of laughing, giggling – especially when they were talking about how they were woken up, pulled out of the apartment,' Sayan said.
'I would say the vibe or the atmosphere was very relaxed and calm.'
NYC officials have offered plane tickets to migrants who ask for them in order to mitigate the migrant crisis in the city
Riley's parents Allyson and John Phillips (center and right) were filled with emotion as the trial kicked off on Friday
The picture was taken on CCTV cameras near her home on the University of Georgia campus at 9.05am on the day of her death. She was holding her iPhone in her left hand, wearing all black activewear and her noise-canceling AirPods
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.
The first scratch officers noted was a four centimeter cut on his lower forearm.
Separately, there was a darker scratch behind his ear at the back of his neck, near his hairline. Another marking was noted down the middle of his back.
Prosecutors had earlier said Riley 'fought for her life' and had forensic evidence which linked to Ibarra on her body at the time of her death.
'She marked her killer for the entire world to see. It is his DNA. Only his DNA, underneath Laken's right fingernails,' Georgia special prosecutor Sheila Ross said.
'He left behind his thumbprint on her iPhone, which was found near her body at the crime scene.'
Ibarra sat motionless as Ross flashed the last known photograph of 22-year-old Riley across the screen, taken just minutes before her death.
The illegal immigrant accused of murdering nursing student Laken Riley had several suspicious scratches on his body at the time of his arrest, his criminal trial heard
Scratches of varying lengths were identified by officers, pictured and submitted as evidence in the case against him
The picture was taken on CCTV cameras near her home on the University of Georgia campus at 9.05am on the day of her death.
She was holding her iPhone in her left hand, wearing activewear and her noise-canceling AirPods.
Ibarra, from Venezuela, arrived in the United States from via El Paso, Texas, illegally in 2022 but was paroled for 'further processing.' His arrest in this case sparked renewed debate about the border crisis and illegal migration.
Prosecutor Sheila Ross used security and doorbell camera video, as well as data from Riley’s watch and phone, to establish a timeline of the student’s final moments.
Ross said during her opening statement that Ibarra encountered Riley while she was running on the UG campus and killed her during a struggle.
Riley was a student at Augusta University College of Nursing, which also has a campus in Athens, about 70 miles east of Atlanta.
Defense attorney Dustin Kirby said in his opening that Riley’s death was a tragedy and called the evidence in the case graphic and disturbing. But he said there is not sufficient evidence to prove that his client killed Riley.
Riley’s parents, roommates and other friends and family packed the courtroom on Friday and again on Monday.
