UGA says suspect arrested in death of nursing student

“At this time, there are no indications of a continuing threat to the UGA campus related to this matter,” the university said in a social media post.

Riley, a resident of Athens, was 22 years old, Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson said Friday morning.

The official cause of death is still pending, but the university’s police department said it was actively investigating a homicide in close cooperation with the GBI, Athens-Clarke County Police Department and federal law enforcement partners.

Early Friday afternoon, a UGA spokesman said campus police had identified a person of interest who was being questioned.

Riley was reported missing Thursday after a friend said she went for a morning run and didn’t return home. Her body was discovered near UGA’s intramural fields.

Riley was an undergraduate student at UGA until the spring of 2023, before becoming a nursing student at Augusta University’s nursing program in Athens. She made the fall 2023 dean’s list at Augusta University.

In a tribute posted to Instagram, Augusta’s College of Nursing described Riley as “a bright and dedicated student” whose “compassion and care” was evidenced in her desire to be a nurse. ”We know that she would have been a wonderful nurse, and her passing is a loss for the profession and the communities she would have graciously served.”

She was from Woodstock, Georgia, according to student records. She graduated in 2020 from River Ridge High School, where she ran cross country and was a member of the track team.

On social media, Riley’s family celebrated her milestones. Pictures show her first day of her senior year in high school, making gingerbread houses at the holidays, and running the 2023 AthHalf Marathon in Athens, finishing a few minutes over two hours. In a video from August, Riley walked across a stage to applause and donned her white coat during the Augusta University nursing program’s white coat ceremony.

Officers from various agencies, including UGA police, Athens-Clarke County, the Georgia State Patrol and GBI, were at an apartment complex about a mile away from the crime scene early Friday afternoon. A spokesman for the Athens police department said campus police and the GBI were leading the investigation at the Cielo Azulak complex on South Milledge Avenue.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter at the scene early Friday afternoon saw an ambulance leave the complex, but it was unclear who was inside. The reporter also saw GBI agents going through trash in a dumpster at the gas station across the street.

Later Friday afternoon, Athens-Clarke County police were flying a drone around the apartment complex. It concentrated over nearby buildings for about 10 minutes and then landed.

“When you have a suspect that’s on the loose, there’s always a danger. But there’s no immediate danger,” Jeffrey Clark, chief of UGA’s police department, told reporters Thursday night.

Authorities said Thursday the deceased student had “visible injuries.”

On UGA’s campus Friday morning, buses were running but most were empty. Representatives from religious organizations were set up at The Arch and outside the Tate Student Center. A group of parents and high school students on a campus tour were seen on north campus.

The mood was somber on Thursday as word of the death spread, just hours after news that another student died on campus late Wednesday. No foul play is suspected in the earlier death of the male student.

“There is no connection to the death yesterday and today’s death. There is no connection at all,” Clark said at a brief press conference Thursday night.

Classes were canceled Thursday evening and Friday. Some other campus events, including a performance by the UGA Symphony Orchestra scheduled for Thursday night, were also canceled. Classes are expected to resume Monday.

“The past 24 hours have been a traumatic time for our University,” UGA President Jere Morehead wrote in an email to students Thursday.

Credit: Jason Getz

Credit: Jason Getz

Augusta University also canceled Friday classes at its College of Nursing campus in Athens, where the woman was a student.

In a message to the campus community Friday, Augusta University President Brooks Keel described Riley as a junior and dean’s list student. “This sudden loss of one of our students is truly heartbreaking,” Keel wrote.

Riley’s death also rocked Cherokee County, where she graduated from high school.

“Our community and our world lost a shining light with the tragic passing of Laken. An outstanding scholar athlete, Laken inspired classmates and teachers with her love of learning and her kindness to all. We ask that the community please keep her family in their hearts,” said Cherokee County School District Superintendent Brian Hightower in a written statement.

Keith Hooper, coach of River Ridge High’s cross country team, said Riley ran for the team for four years and competed in the Georgia High School Association’s state finals several times.

“She was an unselfish individual who relinquished her opportunity to run finals her senior year because she thought she was not 100% fit,” Hooper wrote in an email to the AJC.

She was passionate about health care science and running.

“She will always accompany us as we run,” Hooper wrote.

A group of neighbors outside the Rileys’ Woodstock home on Friday afternoon said the family would like their privacy at this time.

Credit: Fletcher Page

Credit: Fletcher Page

Morehead, UGA’s president, met Thursday afternoon with members of the victim’s sorority, Alpha Chi Omega.

On Friday morning, groups of students brought flowers to the sorority house.

Jan Hudgins, co-owner of local flower shop Flowerland, was putting together a large arrangement of all-white flowers, one of several bouquets that will be sent to the sorority, she said.

”Students have been in here since yesterday when they found out and bought every flower I had,” Hudgins said. “We never see this amount of student traffic.”

UGA sophomore Matthew Aliff came in to Flowerland to pick up a bouquet for the AXO sorority members.

”When you kind of go through something like that, you can oftentimes feel really alone, so we want them to know people are there for you,” said Aliff, adding that he didn’t know Riley personally.

This isn’t the first time the sorority has experienced tragedy. Two AXO members were among four UGA students killed in a car crash in 2016.

Credit: Olivia Wakim

Credit: Olivia Wakim

Homicide cases are rare for UGA campus police. Clark told reporters Thursday night that it had been 20 years since there was a homicide on UGA’s campus. It was not immediately clear to which case Clark was referring.

In 2001, UGA law student Tara Louise Baker was found dead in her burning off-campus residence. The homicide remains unsolved, according to the GBI. In 2003, the body of Kelvin McDuffie, a University of Georgia student, was found in a remote part of Athens-Clarke County. That homicide is also unsolved.

UGA reported no murders in recent years at its main campus or non-campus properties associated with the school. There’s also been no manslaughter incidents in 2020, 2021 or 2022, the most recent years for which federal Clery Act crime statistics are available.

Credit: Fletcher Page

Credit: Fletcher Page

A heavy police presence was visible for hours Thursday afternoon near the intramural fields on East Campus, where officers were seen stopping cars and speaking to drivers attempting to leave the area. Students and others were asked to avoid the area during the investigation.

It all started when police received a call just after noon Thursday from a person “concerned for the welfare of a friend” who had not returned from a morning run at the intramural fields.

UGA investigators began searching the area at 12:20 p.m. Thursday, and the woman’s body was discovered at approximately 12:38 p.m. She was found in the woods behind Lake Herrick. Officers immediately began rendering medical aid. When emergency responders arrived, they determined the student was dead, according to a special safety update posted on X, previously known as Twitter.

The university has planned a moment of silence before all home sporting events, including men’s and women’s basketball games, this weekend. Softball games at UGA, featuring the Bulldogs, Virginia Tech, Radford and Dartmouth, are expected to be played Friday as scheduled.

Anyone with information that could help investigators was asked to contact UGA police at 706-542-2200.

— Reporter Taylor Croft contributed to this report.

— Please return to AJC.com for updates.

Credit: Jason Getz

Credit: Jason Getz