More details are emerging about the man accused of murdering a Georgia nursing student, including a previous arrest in New York for endangering the welfare of a child, WSB-TV reports.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, allegedly attacked and killed 22-year-old Laken Riley while she was out for a jog on Thursday in Athens.
Police do not believe Ibarra had any relationship with or knew Riley before he encountered her. He lived in the community, but he was not a college student nor a U.S. citizen.
Federal authorities have not commented publicly on Ibarra’s immigration status, but unnamed sources told NewsNation that he is undocumented.
New reporting reveals that Ibarra had previous run-ins with the law before his arrest this week, as did his brother, who was also detained.
In August, Ibarra was arrested in New York for driving a vehicle that was unregistered and uninsured with a 5-year-old child. Authorities charged Ibarra with reckless endangerment of a child and acting in a manner injurious to a child, according to WSB-TV.
Shortly after Ibarra bonded out of jail, he and his then-wife, Layling Franco, split and he moved to Georgia, where his brother, Diego Ibarra, was living.
Court records show Diego Ibarra entered the United States last year and had claimed asylum because of a fear of returning to Venezuela, according to WSB-TV. He was released to New York while the asylum case proceeded and then later moved to Georgia.
Police in Georgia arrested Diego Ibarra in September for driving under the influence without a license. He would later be arrested for shoplifting and failing to be fingerprinted, Fox 5 reports.
Diego Ibarra later worked for the University of Georgia as a dishwasher using a fake green card, but he did not provide adequate documentation to keep the position.
In an interview with the New York Post, Franco said she, her son and Jose Ibarra crossed into the United States last year in El Paso, Texas. The Venezuelan natives were processed at an immigration facility and then later bused to New York City.
“We got married so we could join our asylum cases,” Franco told the Post. “He was the person I thought I could see through. We’ve known each other our entire lives.
“He wasn’t aggressive, none of that. We had problems as a couple but our problems weren’t physical. We wouldn’t punch but we’d raise our voices.”
Franco added that she wants to talk with her ex about the charges against him.
“I have a lot of faith that this wasn’t him, that there was a misunderstanding somewhere,” Franco told the Post. “But if he did, he has to pay for what he did, truly.”
Jose Ibarra faces charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another person. He and his brother are being held in the Athens-Clarke County Jail without bond.
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[Feature Photo: Laken Riley/Facebook]
