Laken Riley case: Jose Ibarra waives right to jury in murder trial

ATHENS — A judge, not a jury, will decide the fate of Jose Antonio Ibarra, the suspect accused of killing 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley nearly nine months ago on the University of Georgia campus.

Tuesday, Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial in a 15-minute hearing, opting instead to have Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard listen to the evidence and render a verdict. The trial is scheduled to begin Friday.

Members of Riley’s family, including mother Allyson Phillips and stepfather John Phillips, were in the courtroom Tuesday.

Ibarra, 26, is charged with felony murder, malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, hindering a 911 call and tampering with evidence. He pleaded not guilty to those crimes at a preliminary hearing in May.

The district attorney’s office filed paperwork in court indicating it will seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Riley’s body was found by police Feb. 22 in a wooded area about 65 feet off a running trail near the university’s intramural fields. She had gone for a jog that morning.

Her killing added fuel to an already intense national debate over U.S. border security. Ibarra, a Venezuelan national, entered the United States unlawfully in 2022, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. He and two of his brothers, who also came into the country without authorization, were taken into custody in Athens the day after Riley’s death. The brothers are not charged in the killing.