Laken Riley: Venezuelan charged with murder of Georgian nurse

A Venezuelan man has been charged with the murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia.

A Georgia grand jury has filed 10 charges against Jose Ibarra, 26, an undocumented immigrant accused of murdering Ms. Riley in February.

His death became a flash point in the U.S. immigration debate and was brought up by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address.

Mr. Ibarra is also accused of attempted rape and spying on another student.

Ms. Riley was killed while jogging at the University of Georgia on February 22.

Police previously said Mr Ibarra did not know Ms Riley and called her death a “crime of opportunity”.

On Tuesday, a Georgia grand jury indicted him on multiple counts of murder, battery, assault with attempted rape, obstructing a 911 call and tampering with evidence.

The jury’s indictment says Ms. Riley died of blunt force trauma and asphyxiation after Mr. Ibarra hit her in the head with a rock.

The jury also determined that there was evidence that he had gone to a University of Georgia building on the morning of the murder, “in an attempt to become a voyeur in that he had looked through the window, spied on and invaded the privacy” of a stranger. person.

The lawyer representing Mr. Ibarra has not yet commented on the new accusations.

Ms. Riley’s murder shook the community and was used by conservatives as an argument for tougher immigration laws.

Mr. Biden addressed his case in his speech to Congress in March.

“Laken Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s true, but how many thousands of people are killed by legals?” » Mr. Biden said.

Mr. Biden later said he regretted using the term “illegal” and that he should have described the suspect as “undocumented.”