Prosecutors describe Slain College Student Laken Riley’s final moments

The man accused of killing Georgia college student Laken Riley in February was “chasing” women on the day of the attack, prosecutors argued on the first day of his trial.

Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University student, disappeared during a run on February 22 on the University of Georgia campus before being found dead.

Investigators arrested 26-year-old Jose Ibarra in connection with her death.

On Friday, Nov. 15, prosecutors alleged in an Athens County, Ga., court that Ibarra was out “hunting for women” on the University of Georgia campus on the day of Riley’s murder, per Los Angeles Times, AP and NBC News.

“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he repeatedly smashed her skull with a rock,” prosecutor Sheila Ross said during Friday’s opening statement, according to the outlets.

Riley was “fighting for her life, for her dignity” during Ibarra’s alleged attack, Ross said in court.

“In that fight, she got this defendant to leave forensic evidence,” the prosecutor told NBC News.

The evidence presented at trial will include Ibarra’s DNA, which was found under Riley’s fingernails; a jacket allegedly found with both Riley’s and Ibarra’s blood; and what prosecutors allege are Ibarra’s fingerprints on Riley’s phone, Ross told NBC News.

In court, Riley’s roommate Lilly Steiner spoke about the victim.

“Laken brought a sense of joy to all of our lives that has been missed ever since,” she said, according to NBC News.

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Riley died of blunt force trauma to the head, Sonny Wilson, the coroner at the Athens-Clarke County Coroner’s Office and Morgue, previously confirmed to PEOPLE.

Ibarra has been charged with multiple offenses, including murder, kidnapping and assault, according to online court records previously cited by PEOPLE.

He is a Venezuelan citizen who immigration officials said entered the country illegally in 2022, as of CBSthe Los Angeles Times and ABC News.

Ibarra has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to ABC News, WSB-TV and that Atlanta Journal Constitution.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.