The illegal migrant convicted of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley is requesting a new trial, accusing the court of committing a number of errors before his guilty verdict.
Attorneys for Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who entered the United States unlawfully before murdering Riley as she was out for a run near a college campus, filed a motion for a retrial on Monday with the Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, according to court documents. In the two-page request, Ibarra’s lawyers claim that his verdict was “contrary to law” and “contrary to the evidence,” and accused the court of committing other errors that “necessitate a new trial.” (RELATED: New York Dem Tells Adams It’s Time To Turn ‘Tough Talk’ On Immigration Into Action)
“Defendant reserves the right to amend and supplement this Motion after a full and thorough review of the facts and circumstances attendant to the trial of this case,” the court document stated. However, the motion did not identify or detail what alleged errors took place during the trial.
Ibarra on Nov. 20 was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing or hindering a 9-1-1 call, tampering with evidence and being a peeping tom. The judge handed him a life sentence without the possibility of parole — capping off an end to a trial that ignited a national debate on illegal immigration-related crime in the U.S.
People pass by a memorial to Laken Riley at Lake Allyn Herrick on the campus of the University of Georgia on June 7, 2024, in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage / AFP)
Riley — a nursing student living in Athens, Georgia at the time — was abducted and murdered while she was jogging along a trail near the University of Georgia campus on Feb. 22. A coroner determined that she passed away from blunt force trauma to the head.
Ibarra, who had a criminal record before the killing, was arrested soon after Riley’s body was discovered by authorities. Ibarra had been living in Athens after he illegally crossed the southern border into El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was released into the country on parole.
His roommate had testified during the trial that she and Ibarra had been living in New York City, but successfully requested a humanitarian flight to Georgia before Riley’s murder.
Law enforcement officials investigating the murder discovered Ibarra’s DNA evidence under Riley’s fingernails, linking him to the crime and indicating that Riley put up a fight as he tried to rape her and ultimately killed her. The Venezuelan national had pleaded not guilty, and his public defenders attempted to claim that the evidence against him was circumstantial, and suggested that his brother, Diego, shares his DNA and may have been involved in the brutal killing.
“I now have to deal with the fact and burden that my sister will never come home again,” Riley’s sister said during victim impact statements following Ibarra’s guilty verdict. She asked the judge to hand down a strong sentencing against Ibarra.
“That man is completely inhumane and the epitome of evil,” she said.
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