Attorneys for Jose Ibarra, the Venezuelan illegal immigrant convicted of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, have filed a motion requesting a new trial.
The attorneys claim that Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard’s verdict sentencing Ibarra to life without parole was “contrary to law” and “contrary to evidence,” according to the filing.
The attorneys added that the court “committed other errors of law that necessitate a new trial.”
On Nov. 20, Haggard found Ibarra guilty on 10 charges, including murder, kidnapping, and aggravated assault with intent to rape.
The Georgia Superior Court began hearing opening statements on Nov. 15, after Ibarra waived his right to a bench trial.
Special prosecutor Sheila Ross presented the argument that Ibarra hit Riley in the head and strangled her with the intent of sexual assault. Ross asked for Ibarra to be sentenced to life without parole.
Ross alleged that Ibarra wore all black on the morning of Feb. 22, 2024, and “went hunting for females on the University of Georgia’s [UGA’s] campus.”
“And in his hunt, he encountered 22-year-old Laken Riley on her morning jog, and when Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock, repeatedly,” she said.
“The forensic evidence that he left behind in this fight is his DNA and only his DNA underneath Laken’s right fingernails."
Riley’s disappearance that morning led to a search, during which her body was discovered along her jogging route at 1 p.m. on Feb. 22.
UGA Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark called it a “crime of opportunity” in which the assailant saw Riley, “and bad things happened,” he said.
It was eventually discovered after a search of his apartment and examination of his identification that Ibarra had previously entered the country illegally near Eagle Pass, Texas, and had been apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and “returned to Mexico by CBP that same day,” court records reported.
“However, Ibarra would re-enter the U.S. illegally just 27 days later,” court records state.
Ibarra eventually migrated to Athens, where he “had frequent contact with local law enforcement officers” through DUI and shoplifting arrests, according to court records.
He was also known to be affiliated with the Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang, which “has been involved in recent violent confrontations with law enforcement and civilian victims in New York and elsewhere throughout the United States,” court records state.
Riley’s death became an arguing point for Republicans advocating for stricter immigration policies while criticizing the Biden administration’s open border policy.
Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for “border czar,” has vowed to carry out mass deportations.
The Associated Press and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
