ATHENS, Ga. — UPDATE: Gov. Kemp has concluded his remarks. You can re-watch them in full in the video player above this story.
"Our hearts are breaking this morning for the family of Laken Riley," Gov. Kemp said to the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce.
The governor said he had spoken to Riley's parents over the weekend, and that "though they are bearing the pain that no parents should ever endure, and are having to plan for burying their child, they're thankful for our prayers and our ongoing (efforts) to see Laken's killer brought to justice."
Gov. Kemp blamed Riley's killing on "failed policies on the federal level" regarding immigration.
Kemp also spoke about Riley's death over the weekend on Fox News as he and other Republicans, making arguments about border security, focused on the immigration status of the accused killer, Jose Antonio Ibarra. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said over the weekend that Ibarra, 26, was first arrested in Sept. 2022 "after unlawfully entering the United States near El Paso, Texas."
ICE said at that time he was paroled and released for further processing. In September of last year, he was also arrested in New York City and charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.
He was released by NYPD in that instance before a detainer could be issued, ICE said.
The governor said Riley's death was "inexcusable and avoidable."
"Laken's life should not have ended so soon and we need to demand justice for what happened to her -- she deserves justice, her family deserves justice and we need justice on a national level to prevent this type of thing from happening again," Kemp said.]
The governor added: "This is a failure of our system on multiple levels, and at multiple times, and it has resulted in a young woman's death. That is inexcusable."
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