The Suspect in Laken Riley’s Murder Indicted Today
The suspect in Laken Riley‘s murder on the UGA campus in Athens February 22 has been indicted today on 10 felony counts by an Athens grand jury.
The 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student, who was attending classes at UGA, left for a run that morning and never returned.
Riley’s body was found in a wooded area near Lake Herrick a few hours later when her roommate called campus police to report she never returned home after her run.
Later that day, authorities arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra and charged him with Riley’s murder. Police called it a “crime of opportunity,” adding that the two did not know each other. The indictment against Ibarra states he caused her death “by inflicting blunt force trauma to her head and by asphyxiating her in a manner unknown.” It also alleges he struck Riley in the head multiple times with a rock.
Charges Against Jose Antonio Ibarra
The suspect in Laken Riley’s murder has been indicted on:
- Malice Murder
- Felony Murder
- Felony Murder
- Felony Murder
- Kidnapping with Bodily Injury
- Aggravated Assault with Intent to Rape
- Aggravated Battery
- Obstruction or Hindering a Person Making an Emergency Telephone Call
- Tampering with Evidence
- Peeping Tom
A new allegation in today’s indictment is that on the same day Riley was murdered, Ibarra went to an apartment at UGA’s University Village Housing “for the purpose of becoming a peeping tom in that he did peep through the window and spied upon and invaded the privacy of a separate victim.”
Ibarra’s Arrest History
Ibarra was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in September, 2022 for unlawfully entering the United States. The following year, Ibarra and his brother, Diego Jose Ibarra, were cited for shoplifting at a local Walmart. Jose Ibarra had previously been arrested in New York and charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17.
