GA v. Jose Ibarra

Summary

Jose Ibarra was accused of killing Laken Riley while she was out for a run in the morning of February 22, 2024, on the trails at Oconee Forest Park, in Athens, Georgia. Laken Riley was a nursing student at Augusta University in Athens. A search for her began after she had not returned a text from her mother earlier that day. Jose Ibarra was identified as a suspect by his roommate and a jacket from a dumpster near his apartment with Laken Riley's hair on it subsequently was discovered. It was considered a crime of opportunity. At the time of Riley's murder, Ibarra was an undocumented citizen of Venezuela, and had been involved in the court systems in New York as well as Georgia prior to this incident.