A Venezuelan man allegedly “went hunting for females on the University of Georgia campus” earlier this year and killed nursing student Laken Riley during a struggle, a prosecutor stated Friday.
As previously reported by CrimeOnline, Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, allegedly attacked and killed 22-year-old Laken Riley in February while she was out for a jog in Athens.
Ibarra, who entered the U.S. illegally two years ago, faces murder and other charges in connection with Riley’s death. Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial, and his case is being heard by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard.
“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly,” Prosecutor Sheila Ross said.
“She fought for her life, for her dignity.”
AP News reports that Ross added that investigators found Ibarra’s DNA under Riley’s fingernails. She also noted that while struggling over her phone, Riley’s call to 911 left Ibarra’s thumbprint on the screen.
The prosecution claimed that forensic evidence is adequate to establish Ibarra’s guilt, with additional digital and video evidence further demonstrating that he killed Riley.
FOX News Digital reports that on Friday, the court played the 911 call, which was mostly silent. A dispatch operator asked, “Clarke County 911, can anyone hear me?” but there was no response.
Defense attorney Dustin Kirby characterized the evidence as graphic and disturbing, but maintained that it fails to conclusively link his client to Riley’s death.
“The evidence in this case is very good that Laken Riley was murdered,” Kirby said. “The evidence that Jose Ibarra killed Laken Riley is circumstantial. The evidence that anyone had any intent or certainly committed any sexual assault is speculation.”
On the day of Riley’s murder, police found three black disposable kitchen gloves in the bushes near Ibarra’s home, one of which had blood on it, Ross said. Authories sent the gloves to a state crime lab, where tests confirmed the blood belonged to Riley.
The prosecutor added that Riley’s DNA was also present on a jacket discovered in a nearby dumpster.
“The jacket found in the dumpster has blood on it and in the blood, for traditional DNA, is Laken Riley’s DNA and this defendant’s DNA, and only the two of them,” Ross said
Authorities said Ibarra didn’t know Riley and didn’t have a prior connection before their encounter.
The trial continues. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Laken Riley/Facebook]
