ATHENS, Ga. — A bench trial for Jose Ibarra, the defendant facing murder charges in the killing of nursing student Laken Riley, is expected to begin Friday.
The proceedings are set to start at 9 a.m. before Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard. 13WMAZ will stream the trial live on 13WMAZ+.
Riley, an Augusta University nursing student, was found dead on Feb. 22 near running trails on the University of Georgia's campus after a friend told police she had not returned from a morning run. Ibarra was arrested the next day in the case.
Defense attorneys pushed to have some evidence in the case suppressed. However, last week, the judge denied motions to suppress DNA evidence, which includes cell phone data, fingerprints from Riley’s phone, and DNA collected from her fingernails.
And the day before jury selection was expected to start, Ibarra submitted a waiver of his right to a jury trial, which was originally set to begin on Nov. 13.
Riley's death gained national attention as the case became a flashpoint for the debate around immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border. Ibarra was previously arrested and released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2022 before being sent to New York. He was arrested again in New York in 2023 for child endangerment when he allegedly had a child on his moped without a helmet.
In Riley's case, an indictment charged Ibarra 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 peeping Tom. The indictment said that on the day of Riley’s killing, Ibarra peered into the window of an apartment in a university housing building, which is the basis for the peeping Tom charge.
Defense attorneys had tried unsuccessfully to have the trial moved out of Athens, to have the peeping Tom charge handled separately and to exclude some evidence and expert testimony.
More on Laken Riley
While Riley was enrolled as a nursing student in the Augusta University College of Nursing program at Athens, she was a former UGA student who was still involved with the campus. She was a member of UGA's Alpha Chi Omega sorority chapter.
She was a Woodstock native and graduated from River Ridge High School, where she ran cross-country.
How to watch Jose Ibarra's trial
13WMAZ will stream Laken Riley's case on 13WMAZ+ each day that Jose Ibarra's trial is underway.
Download our streaming app on Roku, Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV. Just search "13WMAZ." There, you will find the proceedings daily on the home screen of the 13WMAZ+ app. 13WMAZ will also stream the trial right here on 13WMAZcom.