ATHENS — University of Georgia students returned to class Monday assured by school leaders that police had arrested the man charged with murder in the death of Laken Hope Riley.
But a sense of unease still permeates Athens amid demands UGA do more to ensure safety on a campus that, before Riley’s death on Thursday, hadn’t seen a homicide since 1996. Several online petitions have called for enhanced safety measures, such as emergency call boxes.
Police on Friday arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, and charged him with murder in the death of Riley, who attended UGA until spring 2023 before enrolling in Augusta University’s nursing program in Athens. Her body was discovered with “visible injuries” near UGA’s intramural fields after she went for a morning run. Ibarra, a citizen of Venezuela, lives in Athens and unlawfully entered the country, according to authorities. He has no known affiliation with the university and investigators don’t believe he knew Riley.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
The typically busy area outside the Tate Student Center was sparsely populated aside from class changes Monday morning.
Students Brooklyn Berryhill and Ayeley Afantchao said better lighting on and near campus as well as emergency call boxes would make them feel more secure. Berryhill said the main parts of campus that students frequent late at night are well lit, but walking to apartment complexes can feel unsafe.
“Even little things, like I walked to my bus in the morning, and I was looking over my shoulder,” said Berryhill.
Another female student who asked not to be named for safety concerns said she talks on the phone when walking in the dark so someone can keep track of her.
Credit: Josh Reyes
Credit: Josh Reyes
Over the last several days, UGA administrators have sought to assure worried students and parents. The university has invested an additional $16 million over the last eight years to boost security. The day before the homicide, President Jere Morehead approved $1.7 million on technology upgrades such as cameras and lights.
“Safety is an ongoing process which there’s no achievable end goal. So we can’t promise perfect safety, but we have to always strive to be safer, which is certainly what the administration and our community expects,” said Dan Silk, associate vice president for public safety, in a Monday interview.
Safety has long been a concern for many of Georgia’s largest universities. Georgia Tech has had trouble in recent years with students being robbed on sidewalks on busy streets alongside the Midtown Atlanta campus. Georgia State University has attempted to increase security around its campus in downtown Atlanta. A 21-year-old man died Sunday after being shot close to a gas station near off-campus student housing.
Silk said UGA leaders will meet to review what happened in Thursday’s homicide and also continue to map out safety strategies. UGA is willing to review its 2004 decision to remove emergency call boxes, or “blue light” stations, around campus that contact police with a push of a button, Silk said.
As of Monday afternoon, more than 25,000 people signed an online petition urging UGA to install the call boxes.
The university removed the stations as cellphone usage grew more widespread. The boxes had been used only seldomly over the years, and officials said upgrading the analog system to support current technology would be costly.
The campus safety app, UGA Safe, includes a “Mobile BlueLight,” which allows students to call campus police and share their location, among other features. Silk said there’s been a 30% increase in app downloads over the last few days.
Another online petition, by the nonprofit organization SafeD Athens, demands not just call boxes but also a comprehensive safety assessment, the addition of “safety ambassadors” to escort students at night, more lighting and cameras, and an expanded UGA police jurisdiction to reach farther off campus.
UGA parent Mary Kerpics has advocated for safety updates for several years through the group. She said a man once pulled out a gun on her daughter’s friend with her daughter nearby in downtown Athens. Kerpics said her daughter lives in a gated community off-campus and sleeps with a deadbolt on her bedroom door.
“I guess the most bothersome part is that it’s not that surprising,” she said, of Thursday’s homicide.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Students feel like the only way to stay safe in the early morning or night is to pay for an Uber or Lyft, she said.
Silk said the UGA Ride Smart program, which provides students up to four discounted Lyft rides per month, has been used nearly 70,000 times since it launched about two years ago.
UGA sent parents an email Sunday that outlined safety steps the university already has taken. The school is boosting the police presence around buildings that host evening classes and around the student center and libraries, the letter said.
Shedrick Crumbsy said he was at the exercise trails Thursday, the day Riley was killed.
”That morning, there was a lot of people out here,” said Crumbsy, a lifelong Athens resident.
He returned Monday, as more than a dozen people played pickleball and tennis at nearby courts. But a reporter who walked the trails through the wooded area for more than an hour Monday where Riley’s body was discovered encountered just five people — all males.
”Hopefully the women in our community will eventually know they can come back out here,” said Tony Galis, of Athens, who typically visits here once a month, “and there will be enough people that can be a safeguard against feeling uncomfortable.”
