Tuesday, the trial of the man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley ended with the call of witnesses by the prosecution. The defense then began to present its case, but quickly ran into problems.
In February, Riley died. Jose Ibarra, who is 26 years old, is charged with murder and other crimes. He gave up his right to a trial by a jury, so Judge H. Patrick Haggard of the Athens-Clarke County Superior Court will make the decision on his own.
The killing at the University of Georgia on February 22 stoked the national debate over immigration. Federal officials said Ibarra came to the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was allowed to stay while he worked on his immigration case.
Riley, who was 22 years old, went to Augusta University College of Nursing. The school has another campus in Athens, which is about 115 kilometers (70 miles) east of Atlanta.
Tuesday afternoon, the prosecution’s case came to an end after calling more than a dozen police officers, Riley’s roommate, and a woman who lived with Ibarra in an apartment to testify. Ibarra said he didn’t want to testify when the judge asked him to.
Diego Ibarra, Ibarra’s brother, was going to be called to testify by the defense. During the trial, they asked witnesses for the prosecution questions that seemed meant to cast doubt on Jose Ibarra’s guilt by making it seem like his brother Diego could also be a suspect.
Diego Ibarra pleaded guilty to federal charges of having a fake green card in July. He is currently being held in federal immigration detention while he waits for his sentence.
He wore orange jail scrubs and had chains around his wrists and ankles when he walked into court on Tuesday afternoon and took the stand.
However, Jose Ibarra’s defense attorney, John Donnelly, informed the judge that Diego Ibarra has a new immigration attorney. He said he called the attorney, who was two hours away but advised his client not to testify.
Donnelly said he could call another immigration detainee to testify about Diego Ibarra’s detention statements. But the judge said hearsay concerns could arise. Since it was late, he let the lawyers negotiate overnight and resumed the trial Wednesday morning.
University of Georgia police Sgt. Sophie Raboud read text messages from Riley’s phone and walked through a timeline of her phone activity the morning she died on Tuesday.
Trial testimony showed that Riley called her mother at 9:03 a.m. and met Jose Ibarra on a wooded running trail 20 minutes later. Prosecutors say Ibarra killed Riley after a struggle, and her smartwatch shows her heart stopped beating at 9:28 a.m.
According to data from Riley’s phone, her mother, Allyson Phillips, texted her several times after she didn’t answer, first casually but then with increasing concern.
At 9:37 a.m., her mother texted, “Call me when you can.” After calling twice and getting no response, Phillips texted her daughter at 9:58 a.m., “You’re making me nervous not answering while you’re out running.
Are you okay? Again, Phillips texted, “Please call me.” at 11:47 a.m. I’m sick with worry about you.” She and family kept calling Riley.
Raboud also testified about surveillance camera footage from the wooded trail, and Phillips and other family and friends cried as Riley ran on the trail in her final moments.
In her opening statement, prosecutor Sheila Ross said Ibarra went “hunting for females” that February morning and killed Riley after a struggle when she “refused to be his rape victim.” No evidence suggested Riley was sexually assaulted, according to police.
Riley’s autopsy by GBI medical examiner Dr. Michelle DiMarco revealed scrapes, bruises, and cuts to her head, neck, torso, abdomen, left hand, and left leg. DiMarco said she had eight head cuts, one of which fractured her skull.
Prosecutors say Ibarra hit Riley in the head with a rock, and DiMarco said the injuries “could be consistent with a rock.” Two rocks at the scene had Riley’s DNA, according to a GBI specialist.
A blue jacket police found in a trash bin at Ibarra’s apartment complex had a blood stain that tested positive for Riley’s DNA and Ibarra’s DNA, according to DNA specialist Ashley Hinkle. Riley’s right hand fingernails had Ibarra’s DNA.
In his opening statement, defense attorney Dustin Kirby called Riley’s death a tragedy and the case evidence graphic and disturbing. He said there isn’t enough evidence to prove his client killed Riley.
Before calling Diego Ibarra, defense attorneys called three other witnesses. She lived next door to the Ibarras. Stephanie Slaton testified that Diego Ibarra asked her what was going on the night Riley was killed because there were many police.
Slaton testified that she told him someone was killed nearby and advised him to report it to police. She said he spoke into a phone translation app and showed her the screen, which read, “If you tell them, I will tell them you did it and then I will kill you, too.”
Under Ross’s questioning, Slaton said Diego Ibarra never told her he or his brother killed Riley. She also admitted she had been drinking that day and that she had been intimate with Diego Ibarra and was angry at him because she thought he was seeing another woman.
The defense’s police officer testified that he found a pile of discarded clothing near Ibarra’s apartment complex the day after the killing, but it appeared to be older.
A defense witness who was running the day Riley was killed saw a suspicious man but described him as taller and skinnier than Jose Ibarra.
