Testimony resumes in the trial of the man accused of killing Georgia student Laken Riley
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Testimony resumed Monday in the trial of the man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley with police officers describing searching the man’s apartment and questioning him and others who lived there.
Jose Ibarra who entered the U.S. illegally two years ago, is charged with murder and other crimes in Riley’s February killing. He waived his right to a jury trial, meaning Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard will hear and decide his case.
Ibarra, 26, took selfies of himself early on the day Riley was killed, according to testimony from an FBI agent who analyzed data from cellphones seized from the apartment where Ibarra lived with his two brothers and two other people. He could be seen in those photos wearing a black Adidas baseball cap and a dark hooded jacket.
A few hours before Riley was killed, a man in a black Adidas baseball cap was seen on surveillance video at the door of a first-floor apartment in University of Georgia housing complex. The female student who lived there told police she had heard the door jiggling and that she saw someone looking into her window, prosecutor Sheila Ross said during her opening statement on Friday.
Police officers using a grainy screen shot from that surveillance video approached a man wearing a black Adidas cap the day after the killing. That turned out to be Diego Ibarra.
University of Georgia police Sgt. Joshua Epps testified that he was called to question Diego Ibarra outside of the apartment where the Ibarras lived. Epps testified that he did not see any signs of recent injuries on Diego Ibarra.
Outside the apartment, police also questioned Argenis Ibarra, Jose Ibarra and Rosbeli Elisbar Flores Bello. Epps and Corporal Rafael Sayan, who speaks Spanish and helped with the questioning, testified that they noticed recent scratches on Jose Ibarra.
When asked why his knuckles were red, Jose Ibarra told them it was because of the cold but didn’t really give any explanation for several scratches on his arms, Sayan said.
Security video from the apartment complex showed a man throwing something into a trash bin while wearing a shirt with a distinctive pattern. A crime scene specialist from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation testified there was a lot of clothing in the one-room apartment but that she didn’t find that shirt in the apartment and didn’t find any bloody clothing.
A police officer testified on Friday that he found a dark hooded jacket in the trash bin seen in the video, and testing later showed that it had Riley’s blood on it.
Flores Bello identified the man in the video as Jose Ibarra and confirmed that identification on the witness stand on Monday. She also said she had previously seen him wearing the dark hooded jacket and thought it was strange he was throwing it away.
The trial began Friday with testimony from Riley’s roommates and from law enforcement officers. Riley’s parents, roommates and other friends and family packed the courtroom on Friday and again on Monday.
During her opening statement, Ross used security and doorbell camera video, as well as data from Riley’s watch and phone, to establish a timeline of the 22-year-old student’s final moments.
Ross said Ibarra encountered Riley while she was running on the University of Georgia campus and killed her during a struggle. Riley was a student at Augusta University College of Nursing, which also has a campus in Athens, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) east of Atlanta.
Defense attorney Dustin Kirby said in his opening that Riley’s death was a tragedy and called the evidence in the case graphic and disturbing. But he said there is not sufficient evidence to prove that his client killed Riley.
The killing added fuel to the national debate over immigration when federal authorities said Ibarra illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case.
Ibarra is charged with one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder and one count each of kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, hindering an emergency telephone call, tampering with evidence and being a peeping Tom.