Ibarra, 26 at the time of his conviction, was a Venezuelan who authorities say entered the U.S. illegally. The case added fuel to an already intense national debate over U.S. border security during last year’s election campaign. Last month, with Riley’s mother in attendance, President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, which gives federal immigration agencies broad authority to detain migrants accused of a variety of crimes.

Several of Riley’s family members, roommates and friends delivered “victim impact statements” at Ibarra’s trial in November. Several of those statements are published below, as transcribed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Allyson Phillips (Laken Riley’s mother):

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

John Phillips (Laken Riley’s stepfather):

“I heard in the opening statements from the defense that the loss of a life that was apparently full of promise is tragic. I’m here today to let your Honor and the entire world know that Laken’s life was not apparently full of promise but instead was abundantly and exceptionally full of promise. It was a shining beacon of a life that everyone remembered that ever came in contact with her. I’m so proud of Laken and the beautiful person that she was. While I could stand here and try to tell the world the things that made such a wonderful person, as well as the many things that we have all been robbed and deprived of, I think one of her last journal entries dated 12/17/23 says it best. So here we go.

‘To my future husband: I want you to know that I’m thinking about you and working every day to become the best wife I can be. I’m working through my current relationships and best preparing for ours and our kids one day. I’m focusing on God and what he defines as a faithful, Christian wife so that I can best embody those characteristics. I pray that you know that it is with my full faith and trust in God that I know this relationship has been handcrafted by Him. I pray that we continue to glorify the Lord, prioritize him in every aspect of our lives and raise our family, our future family to be God-fearing Christians as well. I pray God is the center of our relationship as it is a gift from Him. I thank Him for you, before I even know you. I can’t wait to love in the best way I know how for the rest of our lives. I pray you know and feel the importance of my love for our relationship. No matter what challenges we face, I pray that our trust in God and love for one another overrules the obstacle. May our relationship last forever, your future wife, Laken.’

That, your Honor, was our beautiful lady. That, your Honor, was just a glimpse of what was tragically and brutally taken from her and us that day. The best daughter, sister, granddaughter, friend and overall person that you could ever hope to meet. While it’s true that none of our lives will ever be the same, we refuse to let this person rob Laken of the hope she gave to her family, loved ones, friends and the world as a whole. We will proudly carry this hope in her name in the days ahead and for the rest of our lives because together we can all keep hope alive.”

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Lauren Phillips (Laken Riley’s sister):

“I wish I could truly put into words how much the tragedy that occurred on February 22, 2024 has affected me, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do so. With that being said, I’m going to attempt with the best of my ability to do that today.

I had the amazing privilege of living with Laken Riley as my older sister. Laken was and will forever be my most favorite person. She was my biggest role model, and I looked up to her in every way. She brought the joy that I needed into my life and never failed to make me laugh. There was absolutely nothing that I wouldn’t do for Laken, and nothing that she wouldn’t do for me.

Laken was my biggest protector, and I always had this sense of comfort and safety in her presence. We’ve been inseparable ever since the moment I was born, and I have been lost ever since she was senselessly stripped from our lives by Jose Antonio Ibarra. I now have this hole in my heart and in my life that I know will never be filled. I had to walk the stage of my high school graduation without my biggest supporter and cheerleader in the crowd. I had to finish my senior year of high school, which most would say is the happiest and most surreal part of your life, but was simply the opposite for me. I had to turn 18 and become an adult without the one person that I looked up to not there by my side and being accepted into my dream school, the University of Georgia, without my sister telling me how proud of me she is and finally getting to live in the same town together again.

I now have to deal with the fact that my best friend and sister will never come home again. She’ll never send me another daily good morning text or silly Snapchat. The true sense of joy when she would randomly surprise me will never happen again. I will never get to hear her infectious laugh or see her light of a smile ever again, and now I get to explain to people when they ask me if I have a sibling that I no longer have one, and not just because she passed away, but because she got brutally attacked and murdered. I do not walk around on my own college campus because I’m terrified of people like Jose Ibarra.

My parents will never be the same after losing their daughter in this tragic way. Seeing their heartbreak is excruciating. We were once a happy family of four, and now there’s an evident hole where her presence is forever felt. We’re a broken family of three, struggling to find out how to live this life, through the silence and emptiness that her absence has left behind.

The joy that she brought to our home is completely replaced with grief, and we are just left holding the pieces of a life that will never feel whole again. She will not get to be at my wedding and next to me as my Maid of Honor. I get to deal with explaining to my future children what happened to their aunt Laken and why they won’t ever be able to get to feel her love or be spoiled by her. All of these experiences were and will be stripped from me against my will, and I now I live in a constant state of fear, anger, and sadness.

I think about how my sister saw exactly what was coming with no way of preventing it. I think about how scared she must have been and how that man is the only one to truly witness that scene. I’m not sure why he did this to my Laken, and I know I will never understand. I waited for him to have a reason, but as the details of this case unfolded, I realized I’ll never get any peace or closure. What Jose Ibarra did to my sister is almost unbearable to listen to. I am completely disgusted having even to look and be in the same room as him. That predator is inhumane and is the epitome of evil. I have no doubt in my mind that the monster sitting in this room with us today is the same monster that encountered my precious sister on February 22, 2024, where he proceeded to attack, assault, beat, murder and (attempt) to rape her. Jose Antonio Ibarra has completely and utterly ruined my life, and I can only open pray that he receives a sentence that ruins his.”

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Jason Riley (Laken Riley’s father):

“I stand here today as a grieving father whose heart was shattered in ways I never thought possible. My daughter Laken Riley was not just our child, she was the light of my life. The person who brought joy to every room she entered, and now that light has been extinguished forever, taken from us in the most senseless and violent way imaginable. The pain I feel is unexplainable. Every day I am reminded that my daughter is gone. I will never hear her laugh again, never see her smile, never hold her hand or feel her hug. She was taken from us, from her family, from her friends, from her future. Our world has been torn apart and no matter what happens here today, nothing will ever bring her back.

I am haunted by the thought of the fear she must have felt in those final moments, and it breaks my heart knowing that she suffered. I have to live with the fact that I could not protect her when she needed me the most, the pain of not being there, of not being able to stop what happened to her. It’s something I will never escape.

My daughter had so many dreams, so many hopes for the future. She had worked so hard to become a nurse, to work with children and spread the love of God. She was a loving, kind and intelligent young woman. She had so much to offer the world, and her life was taken from her far too soon. I will never get to see her achieve those dreams. The void that has been left is unmeasurable. The impact of her loss on our family is unmeasurable. As a father, I am forever burdened with the pain of losing my child. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to navigate this grief, trying to make sense of the world that took my daughter from our family. But I will never forget her. I will keep her memory alive, and I hope justice is served for her, not only because I’m her father but because she deserves it.

I ask that you consider this life that was taken, the pain that has been caused and the lasting effects of this tragedy on everyone who loved our amazing daughter, Laken Hope Riley.”

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Connolly Huth (Laken Riley’s roommate):

“Laken Riley was my roommate for two years, my devoted and loyal running partner for two years, and my best friend forever. I stand before you looking at you through eyes that have seen, ears that have heard and a heart that has felt emotions nobody, and especially a 22-year-old, should have to.

On February 21st, my life was complete. I woke up on February 21 at 7:30 a.m., walked out of my bedroom door to streamers hung outside my bedroom, from the top of the doorframe to the floor, balloons blown, decorations taped, and gifts presented precisely on the kitchen island. Laken did it. It was my 22nd birthday. She had a 5 a.m. nursing clinical, yet she woke up at 4:30 a.m. to make me feel loved and appreciated because that is who Laken Riley was. I went to dinner that night with my roommates and my family and ended the night with my roommates, and especially Laken, showering me with love. It is clear and evident that this defendant, Jose Ibarra, has never felt this type of love and appreciation.

I have been impacted by this brutal cowardice and preventable tragedy in every way, shape and form. I no longer have a best friend that I relay every thought or worry to. I no longer run every day. I lost my partner and I lost the joy of what running was before Laken was taken from us. I cannot imagine running when I constantly am looking over my shoulder in public wondering if I am next. I live with excruciating guilt every day that I was not accompanying Laken on this run and that it was her and not me, and I hope and pray that it will never happen again to anyone.

Along with this, the crime that this monster committed ruined one of the most special places in our friendship. Lake Herrick was Laken’s and I’s safe space. We loved to go on running adventures throughout the park together. We had a code called dock time. Dock time consisted of either ending our runs or taking a calming walk to the dock at Lake Herrick. Here we would sit in silence, play music or talk while sitting on the dock, simply enjoying each other’s presence. All it took was a text saying, I need dock time, and we were on the way to debrief whatever we needed to discuss. Now, when I think of this beautiful spot, I think of the terror and horror my sweet best friend had to endure at the hands of this monster.

I think of all the things I have to do now to remember Laken. At times, I forget how she laughs or how she sounds, and I have to resort to looking through my camera roll of hundreds of videos I have. Videos where I talked to my future kids and introduced them to their aunt Laken in college. To talk to my friend, I have to drive 20 minutes to her grave and sit and talk to her with no response, screaming at the sky. When I want to remember her, I have to go in my closet and pull out her clothes I was given and smell them to remember how she smelled. As I stand up here today I am wearing one of Laken’s shirts. The shirt has sat in my closet for months, not because I’m saving it for an occasion, but because I cannot afford to not remember these things like this about her.

I sit in therapy week after week trying to heal from February 22nd. When I hear emergency vehicle sirens, I am triggered. I sat that day and watched dozens of emergency personnel drive by as I sat helpless. My roommates and I had to draw our own conclusions that the pinnacle of our house was no longer here when we watched a coroner drive by us after sitting at the field for two hours with no answers. Our fears were confirmed when we received a universitywide email that alerted students, faculty and staff that a female was deceased.

I lost faith in humanity the day that my kind, selfless, beautiful, smart, loving, and perfect best friend left this Earth. I will never understand why it had to happen in the first place, but more importantly, why, out of all people, it had to be her. The world lost a girl who would have taken the clothes off her back for her family, friends and even strangers, who studied and devoted her life to Christ and nursing so she could save lives and make a difference in this world. Laken cannot be replaced. If you had the ability to bring her back out of all this, I would give up every earthly possession I have to see her infectious smile, her contagious laugh and her infamous ‘love you girl’ and I would hug her neck. But you cannot.

Laken made this world, and more specifically my world, better. My first years of college, when I did not know Laken, I went home all the time. My last year of college you had to drag me home. That was because Laken was my person. So, your Honor, I wish to proclaim the maximum sentence for the defendant, as I will never be the same. Her loving, beautiful family will never be the same, and this world will never be the same. I hope this sentencing sets a precedent, so it stops with Laken and fails to happen to anyone again. Laken was a hero and a warrior. She died a hero and a warrior, and she was a hero and warrior to all of us. Laken was my source of life, joy and unwavering happiness, so when her life was taken, so is the part of me that truly knew how to feel those things again.”

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Lilly Steiner (Laken Riley’s roommate):

“I was one of Laken’s roommates, friends and family. On the day of February 22, 2024, Laken Riley was taken by Jose Ibarra from her family, her roommates, her friends, her sorority sisters, her classmates, her future children, her future husband and her future patients.

This trial focused on the death of Laken, which has overshadowed the life that she lived, the life that was stolen from this community. Laken was the most driven student with the biggest heart of anyone I think I ever will meet. As roommates, we got to spend a whole lot of time together. We had our family dinners. We watched Dancing With the Stars every Tuesday. We had almost daily Starbucks runs, which I hoped to do that morning when I checked her location around the time she took her final breaths. We’d often get to a point once a week where we’d get emotional, thinking about what life was going to be like once we graduated. Laken held a place in all of our imaginary futures. Now Sofia (Magana), Connolly (Huth) and I graduated in May, required to move on with our lives while Laken can’t. We have (the) privilege to get jobs and move to exciting new cities to experience postgrad life. But Laken doesn’t. I’m currently working as a medical assistant, waking up every day dreading that I won’t get a text from her making my day better. I’m striving to work in the medical field, but I know I could never be half the health care worker that Laken would have and that the world was deprived of.

While living together, we often would play outside of our house in the middle of the street, specifically four square, listening to a playlist called “playtime with my family.” Our home was such a special place to us, one that was tainted. I have never been the same, nor will I ever be. Shortly after Laken’s death, I had to come back to UGA to finish my classes without Laken and without the safe space that we built together and it was awful. Every time I wanted to go somewhere, I had to drive by the apartments that provided a roof over his head while he got to rip away ours. Life without Laken has been so dull, and the grief, anger and fear has been beyond difficult. So many people are lost without her. Laken made her short time on Earth so significant that she managed to impact those who she never even met. Laken left a colossal legacy to everyone she touched, and I have zero doubt that she is still not finished building it. That is something that Jose Ibarra will never be able to take away. I hope to never say his name again but to shout Laken’s every chance I get.”

Sofia Magana (Laken Riley’s roommate):

“I am Laken Riley’s roommate of three years. I stand before you today with grief, sadness and an overwhelming sense of loss of my best friend. Laken wasn’t just my best friend. She was my roommate, my sorority sister and above all she was my chosen family. The joy and kindness Laken brought into my life every single day can never fully be put into words. We confided in each other, supported each other through challenges and celebrated our joys together. The loss of my best friend shattered my world in ways I never thought possible. I could never imagine I would have to navigate life without her by my side. Every day, her friends, family and loved ones carry the weight of her absence, a weight that is heavy and unrelenting. Laken was my fearless other half. As someone who is reserved and awkward, Laken was always there to nudge me to step out of my comfort zone. She would pull me out to the dance floor and encourage me to try new things to live life with the fullest. I trusted her completely and I always knew she was there for me, as I was for her.

This small, precious piece of life that we once took for granted is now in my mind what I lost. Laken taught so many people in her life invaluable lessons. She showed me how to find joy in every moment, how to embrace life with an open heart and how to dance in a crowded room without caring what anyone else thought. These lessons will stay with me forever.

Laken was not just my best friend. She was a devoted daughter, a loving sister and cherished friend to so many. She was an exceptional student with a bright future ahead of her, destined to touch countless lives. I’ll miss seeing her grow up, seeing her smile and hearing her voice, all of which brought life to all of those around her.

Now we are forced to confront a painful reality. We will never have the joy of her laughter and feel the warmth of her smile or find peace in the sound of her voice. The loss of Laken has left a hole in our hearts that can never be filled. The monster who took Laken’s life has clearly never known love or the love Laken showed everyone in her life. Love that was boundless, love that was a testament to the amazing person that she was. Jose Ibarra brutally attacked Laken. Now spaces that used to be places of joy are places where I fear for my safety.

I now live my life in fear, constantly looking over my shoulder with the new reality that the unexpected can happen. A world Laken taught me to embrace is now a world I feel unsafe. Every day I put on a brave face and step into my classroom ready to support my students. I mask my emotions and fears to shield them from the harsh realities of the world, preserving their sense of security and innocence. Yet inside I’m struggling, holding back the truth so I can wait for the school day to end so I can slip away to the bathroom where I can finally let my emotions surface. February 22, 2024, a day we’ll never forget. It was the day Jose Ibarra chose to take from this world somebody who embodied love and life. Jose took my life, my sense of joy, my best friend, my other half. Losing Laken has left an enormous hole in my life. The world feels quieter and emptier and less joyful without her in it. Her absence is felt in every corner of my day-to-day life and I don’t want to fill the space she would have occupied.

What I do know is this, Laken’s legacy of love, kindness and friendship will live in all of us. The love she gave so freely will continue to guide me as I live this life without her.”

Sophia Palomino (friend of Laken Riley):

“Not being in Athens that day will forever haunt me. Finding out through email will forever haunt me. Seeing this posted all over social media will forever haunt me.

Laken Riley was my best friend, the person who I told everything to and the person I trusted with anything. The pain of the last nine months has been indescribable. If you had asked me a year ago, where are you going to be and what are you going to do in 2024, I’d tell you I’d be finishing up my second-to-last semester in college with Laken as my roommate as she finished nursing school. I’d tell you we stayed together in Savannah and on the trip we planned to New York. I’d tell you she finally got me into running and we’re training for the AthHalf (half marathon) this year. I’d tell you many things and many of our plans. But instead, I get to tell you how different my year was. I get to tell you that I can’t do anything by myself anymore, even in broad daylight. I get to tell you that a town I used to love being in just fills me with dread, that everywhere we go reminds me of places that we used to hang out. I’d tell you that I can’t go to her old house and I haven’t been able to return to the IM (intramural) fields since.

I’d tell you the weight of emptiness I feel when I still go to text her sometimes. This is now something I have to live with for the rest of my life, knowing her life was taken too soon. And things I was looking forward to will never happen. Being in each other’s weddings, graduating together and seeing each other start our careers. It wasn’t just a life taken, it was a future stolen. It’s difficult living with knowing that nothing and nobody will fill the hole that’s been left in her absence. I will never get to experience her laughing, her comforting presence or her cheering you on as we go through life. So many what-ifs playing in my head over and over, if just one more thing maybe would have changed her path that day. But instead my reality is that she’s not here because of what this animal did. We have sat here all week hearing every fraction of evidence and reliving the worst days of our lives on repeat. I know nothing will bring her back, even though I still badly wish it would. Justice would bring comfort to us all. No one who can take away such a bright and sweet soul deserves to walk free ever again. The death of my best friend has changed my life forever.”

Carrie Howell (friend of Allyson and John Phillips, Laken Riley’s mother and stepfather):

“Your Honor, I’ve started this over and over. Feeling paralyzed in my thoughts, with overwhelming emotions, not knowing which direction to go because there’s so much that can be said today. Everyone has spoken so beautifully and I had the privilege of getting to speak about her at her celebration of life and getting to talk about all of the beautiful and wonderful things about her.

My husband Matt and I have had the blessing of calling Laken and Lauren’s parents, John and Allyson Phillips, our best friends. John and Matt met in college, where they were roommates and fraternity brothers. They formed a bond as friends that grew into a true brotherhood. This brotherhood between them extended our families together in the same exact way. It is a friendship that runs deep and loves big. Our families and children have grown up together and had many adventures and vacations over the last 20-plus years. We have had the privilege and joy of watching Laken and Lauren grow up.

272 days ago, on the morning of February 22, 2024, our lives were forever changed in a way none of us could have ever imagined. The moment I got the call from my husband that Laken had not returned home from her morning run, that no one could get her on the phone and she was missing, I knew in my heart something horrific had happened to her. I had the worst feeling that she was no longer with us, but I prayed and prayed and prayed as I frantically got ready to make the drive to Athens to be with my friends. I was begging the Lord for her to still be alive, and as terrible as this would be, that she had just been kidnapped and would be found physically unharmed and alive or that she would be able to escape to safety and praying she wasn’t being trafficked. I was literally praying for her to be kidnapped. Like that sounds so crazy, but that just at the time seemed better than the alternative. I’ve never prayed for anyone to be kidnapped. Can you imagine pleading prayers with the Lord for someone you adore and love to just be kidnapped? That option gave me hope in that moment, that she would be brought back to her family alive. I was desperate for my friends. This nightmare spiraled out of control when I received another call from my husband. While he was on the road, or while I was on the road to Athens, John had called my husband and he said to my husband, ‘She’s with Jesus, brother.’ That will never leave my memory. As my oldest daughter and I sat in traffic on our way to Athens, time seemed to have stopped in that moment.

Yet, as we are here 272 days later, time has continued. It has continued in ebbs and flows of every emotion you can experience. Time has stood still in utter disbelief that this precious human is gone, while day to day life continues on. This was an act of our evil at the hands of Jose Antonio Ibarra. Laken Hope Riley being the young woman he would succeed in torturing in the most excruciating and brutal way, while she fought not only for her life but for her dignity.

He must have believed that she was there for his taking, that he was entitled to whatever sick perverted urges and desires he had that morning. Not one person on this planet has even one right to take what they want from a person simply because they want it. Yet, Jose did that. Because of his evil actions, we are all being forced to learn how to navigate life with the stark, harsh reality of Laken no longer being here. Her amazing friends have been robbed of the beautiful gift of lifelong friendships and doing life together with their future husbands and children, the way my family and the Phillips family have been blessed to do all of these years. Her grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins feel the absence of her presence constantly and have been robbed of the continued blessing of her being a bright light in their family.

My family and I have journeyed alongside our dear friends as they attempt to navigate and learn how to live a new normal without their oldest daughter. I’ve gotten to know my best friend’s face in a new way. The way I would give back if I could make returns on the most devastating circumstances life can hold. I look at her and I know when a situation is too much. I know when a comment is too much. I know when to be silent and when she needs encouragement. This year is showing on all of our faces, like the harshness of cold winter days. There seems to be no end in sight, but we will keep fighting because we refuse to allow Jose Antonio Ibarra to take anything else from us and we serve a good and mighty God. We’ve already been forced to journey through our annual family vacation without her, family get together, fun events and the absence of her presence is do deafening. Sure, we still laugh and we’re still living. We’re still here, so we have to keep living and we’re going to honor her with everything that we have and we’re going to keep trusting in the Lord to help our dear friends and sweet Lauren. With all the things that they’re not going to experience with their daughter, no parent should have to say goodbye to their daughter in this manner. The loss of a child is devastating no matter what the circumstances are, but something like this, where evil intentionally goes out to harm somebody, there’s no words for it.

So today, I stand before you with her friends and family and we ask you, your Honor, to bring earthly justice for our precious Laken and for all of us who love her so very much. She was truly one of the most precious people that I’ve ever had the honor of knowing. She exhibited the fruit of the Spirit in the Bible because she truly lived for Jesus. As you got to hear John read in her journal entry, that was her. That was a private entry, not for anyone else and you got to see the type of person that she truly is in her heart, pure and lovely. Her laugh that everyone has talked about, literally one of all of our favorite things about her. We never get to hear it again because of him. So we ask, your Honor, for you to consider in your sentencing for him to not be able to ever be out or prison and for him to spend all of his days there without any possibility of getting out.”