Laken Riley murder suspect waives right to jury trial

The person accused of murdering Georgia nursing scholar Laken Riley waived his proper to a jury trial within the case that has garnered nationwide consideration amid outrage over the Biden administration’s immigration insurance policies. 

Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, is standing trial following his arrest earlier this 12 months in reference to the 22-year-old’s homicide. Riley was killed in February whereas jogging on the College of Georgia campus, with authorities later figuring out that the younger lady died as a result of blunt pressure trauma to the top and asphyxiation. 

A ten-count indictment accused the unlawful migrant from Venezuela of additionally desiring to sexually assault the Augusta College School of Nursing scholar. On the day of Riley’s homicide, the migrant allegedly peered into the window of an residence at a college housing constructing, the Los Angeles Instances reported. 

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In keeping with the indictment, Ibarra has been charged with one rely of malice homicide, three counts of felony homicide, and one rely every of kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, hindering an emergency phone name, tampering with proof and peeping Tom.

Prosecutors will not be searching for the demise penalty, based on the LA Instances. As a substitute, they are going to be searching for a sentence of life in jail with out the potential for parole. 

Throughout a latest court docket look, Athens-Clarke County Superior Choose H. Patrick Haggard questioned the suspect with the help of a translator about his choice to waive his proper to a jury trial. 

Prosecutor Sheila Ross knowledgeable Haggard that Ibarra’s attorneys had knowledgeable her final week that they solely wished the case to be heard by a decide, with the suspect’s lawyer, Kaitlyn Beck, presenting the decide with a signed waiver. Haggard decided that Ibarra consented to the choice and mentioned the bench trial would start on Friday. 

Ibarra entered the US illegally by El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 8, 2022, and was later launched for additional processing. 

In keeping with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), New York police arrested Ibarra on Aug. 31, 2023, and was charged with inflicting harm to a toddler and a driving violation. Nonetheless, the unlawful migrant was launched earlier than ICE may request that police detain him for immigration authorities.

An August interim report from the U.S. Home Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Safety, and Enforcement blamed the insurance policies beneath the Biden-Harris administration for Riley’s demise. The report cited Ibarra for example of the hundreds of thousands of unlawful aliens launched by the administration who’re “committing crimes across the country.” 

“The Committee’s review of Jose Ibarra’s A-file reveals that the Biden-Harris Administration’s border policies ensured Jose Ibarra’s release into the United States nearly two years ago,” the report acknowledged. “Despite having lived safely in Ecuador from January 2017 through July 2022, in 2022, Ibarra traveled to the United States, potentially drawn by President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’s open-borders, no-consequence immigration policies.” 

At some point after the Border Patrol apprehended Ibarra in September 2022, the administration launched him into the U.S. as a result of it decided that his launch was warranted as a result of “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” 

The U.S. Division of Homeland Safety additionally cited an absence of detention area as the explanation for his launch, however the committee highlighted the company’s knowledge, arguing that it may have detained Ibarra. 

“As a result of his release, Ibarra was free to commit crimes in the United States, including allegedly kidnapping and murdering Laken Riley in Georgia,” the committee and its subcommittee famous within the doc.

Riley’s mom, Allyson Phillips, referred to her daughter’s homicide as an “avoidable tragedy” in a Fb publish earlier this 12 months. She expressed gratitude for the help she and her household obtained after Riley’s homicide.

“As I sat down to write this message, I really just have no words. My family has faced the most devastating, unimaginable loss that anyone could ever be forced to endure,” Phillips wrote. “I would like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for being with me and my family during this heartbreaking time. I encourage everyone to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I give Him all the glory for getting us through this.”