Laken Riley was ‘fighting for her life’ when she was killed: prosecutors

ATHENS, Ga. – The final photos of murdered Georgia nursing student Laken Riley were revealed Friday – as prosecutors noted she “fought for her life” for a staggering 18 minutes against the illegal Venezuelan immigrant accused of her murder.

Opening statements got underway in the long-awaited trial of Jose Ibarra, the Tren de Aragua-linked migrant accused of killing Riley on Feb. 22 in what police have called a crime of opportunity in Athens.

“He went hunting for women on the University of Georgia campus and in his pursuit he encountered 22-year-old Laken Riley on her morning run,” said prosecutor Sheila Ross, with Riley’s family in the gallery. “When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he repeatedly smashed her skull with a rock.

“The evidence will show that Laken fought. She fought for her life, she fought for her dignity, and in that fight she got this defendant to leave forensic evidence. She also marked her killer for the whole world to see.”

Ross also showed a surveillance image of Riley out at her job before she was attacked, and when the image was shown, Riley’s mother began sobbing along with Riley’s sister, who was also in tears.

Ibarra sat in court and listened calmly as the trial was translated for him through headphones.

Ross alleged that Ibarra, 26, left his left thumbprint on Riley’s iPhone and DNA under her fingernails.

And when police went to Ibarra’s apartment the next day and eventually arrested him, they found scratches on his arms, wrists and on the backs of his hands, Ross said.

Riley wrestled with Ibarra for about 18 minutes from 9:10 until her heart stopped at 9:28 a.m., according to heart rate readings and data taken from her GPS running watch, Ross said.

“Her meeting with him was long,” Ross said. “Her fight with him was fierce.”

After Ross finished after about 45 minutes, Ibarra’s attorney Dustin Kirby delivered less than 10 minutes of opening statements to the judge, focusing on the fact that the prosecution’s case is based on “circumstantial” evidence.

“The evidence in this case is very strong that Laken Riley was murdered,” Kirby said. “The evidence that Jose Ibarra killed Laken Riley is circumstantial.”

Kirby said the judge should not rule out the findings surrounding DNA, fingerprints and other evidence.

“On closer inspection … the evidence linking Mr. Ibarra to that event is lacking,” Kirby said.

For example, Kirby questioned the thumbprint left on Riley’s phone that prosecutors say belonged to Ibarra. Ibarra was wearing black latex gloves, but prosecutors say there were several holes in the gloves, including one on his thumb, that allowed his fingerprints to be left.

“The hole in the glove would not have left this mark,” Kirby said.

The defense attorney also focused on the fact that a black Adidas hat the suspect was seen wearing in surveillance footage was worn by Ibarra’s brother Diego after the crime. Kirby seemed to assert that fact simply to bring reasonable doubt, but the lawyer did not go so far as to offer an alternative suspect.

Ibarra allegedly attacked the Augusta University nursing student with the plan to sexually assault her.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of malicious murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and related crimes and faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

He also faces one count of looking at a University of Georgia employee on the same day as the murder.

Prosecutors have chosen not to push for the death penalty in Ibarra’s case.

On Tuesday, Ibarra waived his right to a trial by 12 of his peers, opting instead to have the case decided by Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard.

Ibarra’s defense team earlier this month lost a bid to delay the trial and exclude evidence, including DNA, fingerprints and cellphone data, on the grounds that it was allegedly improperly collected by investigators and that the defense needed more time to review the case.

The case against Ibarra, whose family has ties to the notorious Tren de Aragua gang, grabbed the national spotlight because Ibarra was released by immigration officials after illegally entering the United States through El Paso, Texas, due to lack of space.

He was arrested in the Big Apple in August 2023 for illegally riding a gasoline-powered moped with a 5-year-old on the back without a helmet or seat belt, but was again released.

Ibarra then fled to Georgia to join his brother, Diego, one of his family members associated with the dangerous gang where he lives.

The brothers were arrested in Georgia for allegedly stealing from a Walmart in September 2023.

Riley’s body was found near her apartment after her friend alerted authorities that she had not returned home from her morning run. Police say Ibarra’s attack on Riley appeared to be a random crime of opportunity.

He was arrested a day later and has been jailed without bail since.

Prosecutors plan to present a range of evidence at trial that ties Ibarra to the crime, including fingerprints taken from Riley’s phone and DNA evidence taken from her fingernails.