Defense rests in trial of man accused of killing Georgia student Laken Riley

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — The defense rested its case Wednesday in the trial of the man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, a case that became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration during this year’s presidential race.

Jose Ibarra, 26, is charged with murder and other crimes in Riley’s February death. He waived his right to a jury trial, meaning the case will be decided by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard.

After the defense rested, prosecutors began calling rebuttal witnesses.

The Feb. 22 killing on the University of Georgia campus 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. Riley, 22, was a student at Augusta University College of Nursing, which also has a campus in Athens, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) east of Atlanta.

The trial began last Friday and the prosecution rested its case on Tuesday after calling more than a dozen law enforcement officers, Riley’s roommates and a woman who lived in the same apartment as Ibarra. Defense attorneys called a police officer, a jogger and one of Ibarra’s neighbors on Tuesday and rested their case Wednesday morning.

Riley’s parents, roommates and other friends and family members packed the courtroom each day, many of them getting emotional as they listened to witness testimony. Ibarra, dressed each day in a collared shirt and dark slacks with his feet chained, appeared attentive throughout the trial.