A 10-count indictment filed Tuesday lodges new accusations against a man suspected in the February killing of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus.
Three of those counts accuse 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra of felony murder. The others include malice murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault with intent to rape, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and tampering with evidence. His previous charges did not reflect an alleged intent to rape.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
The indictment also includes a new accusation that Ibarra spied on a UGA student and staff member, allegedly going to an apartment on campus and peeping through the woman’s window the same day Riley was killed.
The 22-year-old was found beaten to death just before 1 p.m. Feb. 22 in a wooded area near the university’s intramural fields after going for a run that morning.
The stunning news rocked two communities: Athens, where she had lived for several years while attending UGA and Augusta University’s nursing school, and Woodstock, where she graduated from River Ridge High School.
It was the first suspected homicide on the grounds of Georgia’s flagship university in more than two decades.
Investigators have said they do not believe Ibarra knew Riley, with UGA police Chief Jeffrey Clark calling it a “crime of opportunity.”
According to the indictment, Ibarra attempted to rape Riley “by pulling up articles of her clothing, with the intent to have carnal knowledge of her forcibly and against her will.” He is then accused of asphyxiating her and causing blunt-force trauma to her head “by seriously disfiguring her head by striking her head multiple times with a rock.”
The tampering with evidence accusation stems from him allegedly hiding a jacket and gloves in an attempt to avoid apprehension.
Credit: Clarke County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Clarke County Sheriff's Office
A police report states that a 24-year-old UGA student and staff member reported a suspicious prowler outside her apartment, just a mile-and-a-half from the intramural fields, about 8 a.m. on Feb. 22. Ibarra is accused of going to the property “for the purpose of becoming a peeping Tom in that he did peep through the window and spied upon and invaded the privacy of (the victim),” the indictment states.
Prosecutor Sheila Ross and the public defenders representing Ibarra did not immediately respond to questions about the case Wednesday. In February, Ibarra elected not to seek bond and remains in custody in the Clarke County jail. It’s unclear when he’s expected to enter pleas to the 10 charges.
He faces multiple felony murder charges because prosecutors often charge defendants with one count of said charge for each underlying felony that allegedly caused the death. Malice murder is brought as an additional charge when someone is accused of intentionally causing the death of another.
Atlanta attorney Chuck Boring, a former prosecutor who is not involved in the case, said prosecutors often try to cover their bases in case a jury decides that a particular charge has not been proven or can’t reach a verdict on a charge.
In this case, the alleged underlying felonies include kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape and aggravated battery. Those accusations were also charged separately.
Riley had been an undergraduate student at UGA until the spring of 2023, but she remained near campus after enrolling in Augusta’s nursing program based in Athens.
Her death became a new flashpoint in the national debate over illegal immigration. Ibarra and two of his brothers entered the United States unlawfully, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said. They were all taken into custody in Athens on Feb. 23.
One of the brothers, 28-year-old Diego Ibarra, faces state and federal charges unrelated to the killing that accuse him of possessing a fake green card. He pleaded not guilty to the federal charge and remains in federal custody in Georgia awaiting trial. A plea has not been entered to the state charge, court records show.
The second brother, 24-year-old Argenis Ibarra, was apprehended in Athens by ICE agents. He is in custody at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, pending further investigation of his immigration case, ICE has said. As of Wednesday, there is no record of pending criminal charges against Argenis Ibarra in relation to his time in Athens.
