A judge ruled on Wednesday that the man accused of killing Laken Riley while she was jogging through the woods at the University of Georgia has been convicted of murder. Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, was found guilty by Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard after a bench trial where the judge decided the outcome.
Ibarra, who had come to Athens, Georgia, in search of work, was convicted of striking Riley, a 22-year-old former UGA student, in the head with a rock and asphyxiating her while she was jogging in UGA's Oconee Forest Park on February 22. Riley, an avid runner who attended Augusta University's College of Nursing in Athens, tragically lost her life in the attack.
The prosecution has indicated that they will be seeking a punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole for Ibarra. The case had garnered significant attention and sparked political debates over the issue of undocumented migrants in the country.
