Jose Ibarra Found Guilty of Murdering Georgia Nursing Student Laken Riley

A 26-year-old man was convicted in the murder of Laken Riley following days of an emotionally charged trial that laid bare details of her gruesome killing. 

Riley, 22, was killed on Feb. 22 while she was out on a jog on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga.

Jose Ibarra was found guilty of murder in her killing by an Athens County judge, whose verdict was livestreamed on Court TV.

Ibarra was found guilty on one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, and kidnapping, aggravated assault with attempt to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing a 911 call, tampering with evidence and peeping tom.  

As Judge H. Patrick Haggard announced the verdict, Ibarra sat quietly and didn’t display a visible reaction.

He told the court he took into account prosecutor Sheila Ross’ comments that the evidence against Ibarra was “overwhelming,” referring to her powerful closing statement. 

“She marked him. She marked him for everyone to see. She marked him for you to see,” Ross told during her closing remarks, per ABC. 

The slain woman’s friends and family shared an emotional moment in court as the verdict was read, per CNN.

Her mother was heard sobbing loudly, with the conviction coming just a day after the court saw Riley’s last ever message: sent to her mom, in which Riley asked her if she wanted to chat.

Riley’s father was seen tearing up following the verdict. Her friends and family hugged each other in support, per CNN.

Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, disappeared on the morning of her death and was later found with “visible injuries.”

A medical examiner determined she died from blunt force trauma to the head, an Athens-Clarke County coroner previously told PEOPLE. Her killer, police previously said in an arrest affidavit, brutalized her by “disfiguring her skull.”

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During the four-day long trial, the judge was shown extensive evidence including DNA and security footage that led to Ibarra’s conviction.

Prosecutors presented testimony from Riley’s roommate who first noticed she was missing, along with that of investigators and translators. The trial exposed Ibarra as a man seemingly lacking remorse, “giggling” when he was taken in for questioning, while presenting Riley’s last moments: a message to her mother and, later, seen running on security footage.

Ibarra, a Venezuelan national, entered the country illegally in 2022, immigration officials previously said, per CBS, the Los Angeles Times and ABC News.