Laken Riley: Venezuelan charged with murder of Georgia nurse

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

A grand jury in Georgia has returned 10 charges against Jose Ibarra, 26, an undocumented migrant accused of killing Ms. Riley in February.

Her death became a flashpoint in the US immigration debate and was referenced 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 on February 22 while jogging at the University of Georgia.

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

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

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

The jury also found that there was evidence that he had visited a University of Georgia building on the morning of the murder, “with the intent of becoming a peeping tom, in that he peeked through the window and spied on the privacy and intrusion” from an unnamed person. person.

A lawyer representing Mr. Ibarra has not yet commented on the new charges.

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

Biden discussed her case in his speech to Congress in March.

‘Laken Riley, an innocent young woman murdered by an illegal alien. That’s right, but how many thousands of people are being killed by legal people?’ Mr. Biden said.

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