Prosecutors say DNA, fingerprint show Jose Ibarra killed Laken Riley
The man accused of killing Laken Riley earlier this year "went out hunting for females" on the day the nursing student in Georgia was slain, prosecutors told a judge Friday on the first day of Jose Antonio Ibarra's trial.
The man accused of killing Laken Riley earlier this year "went out hunting for females" on the day the nursing student in Georgia was slain, prosecutors told a judge Friday on the first day of Jose Antonio Ibarra's trial.
"When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly," prosecutor Sheila Ross said in her opening statement.
A medical examiner found that Riley died from blunt force trauma and asphyxiation and had a complex skull fracture and eight other lacerations on the left side of her head, she said.
Riley’s killing became a flashpoint in the immigration debate. Ibarra, 26, is a Venezuelan citizen who entered the United States illegally in 2022, officials have said. Republicans, including Donald Trump who met with Riley’s parents before a campaign rally in March, have used the case to call for stricter border policies.
Jose Ibarra appears in court on Oct. 11 in Athens, Ga.Brynn Anderson / Pool via AP fileRoss said the prosecution's forensic, digital and video evidence “will point to one person, Jose Ibarra, as the killer of Laken Riley.”
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