On the morning of Feb. 22, 22 year-old nursing student Laken Riley left her house for a quick jog, bringing her iPhone, smartwatch, and noise-canceling AirPods with her. According to CNN, after 25 minutes of taking the innocent jog, Riley was dead. Riley was last seen in her Ring camera wearing a black jacket, black leggings, and white sneakers, with hair in a ponytail. One of the nursing student’s roommates started to become anxious about her not arriving back on time, after she had been gone for several hours. Due to her concern, she used her phone to find Riley’s location using the Find My feature. Riley’s location strangely did not change at all on the app, with the phone’s last known location being on a University of Georgia trail. The area near the trail was investigated by a university police officer after her friends called authorities, finding her remains after about 20 minutes. Stated by CNN, Jose Ibarra, 26, has been arrested for the murder, resulting in charges of both murder and aggravated assault. His defense attorneys stated that they believe that Ibarra being responsible for the crime was “circumstantial.” According to prosecutors, a fingerprint left on Riley’s phone matched his left thumbprint.
According to CNN, the Garmin smartwatch Riley wore showed that she used the SOS function around 9:10 a.m. After several minutes, the smartwatch showed that her heart rate started dropping. Her smartwatch moved 65 feet away from the trail and into the woods after a couple more minutes passed. During the fight between Ibarra and Riley, she caught some of Ibarra’s DNA beneath her fingernails while fighting in defense. She attempted to call the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, only for her phone to disconnect the call at 9:12 a.m. Dispatchers had tried to call her back, only to be greeted with no response. Right before 9:30 am, her heart rate was still seen on the smartwatch data, showing that she struggled and fought for her life for several minutes. The smartwatch showed that her heart had stopped beating at 9:28 a.m.
According to CNN, Riley was seen on camera on the day of her disappearance around 8 a.m., seen talking with Connolly Huth, her running partner. Huth then left so that she could go to class at around 8:45 a.m. Not much later, at 9:05 am, Riley was seen on a trail camera, jogging. Sometime around 9:06 a.m., Riley’s mother called her, but, only to her disapproval, could not reach Riley. Her roommates had tried several times to locate Riley, only to fail. Riley’s roommates, Lilly Steiner and Sofia Magana, investigated the trail on their own at 11:30 a.m.
According to WEAU, Riley refused to be Ibarra’s rape victim. When she denied him, Riley was repeatedly bashed in the head with a rock and asphyxiated. Although Dustin Kirby, Ibarra’s defense attorney, found the evidence disturbing, it was not enough for him to believe that Ibarra was responsible for the killing. The murder brought up the controversy over border control, as Ibarra frequently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, with President-elect Donald Trump going as far to say that President Joe Biden was at fault for Riley’s death.
Prosecutor Sheila Ross showed a security camera video, claiming that the person in the clip was Ibarra at 9:44 a.m. at his apartment complex in a parking lot. He was seen throwing something in the recycling bin along with another object in the bushes closeby. Officers checked the recycling bin, finding a dark hooded jacket with Riley’s blood on it, along with strands of dark hair stuck on a button. They also found black disposable kitchen gloves, including one with a hole in the top of the thumb. A video taking place 35 minutes later shows the same man wearing different clothes while walking toward a trash bin and a bag, then walking back with nothing in his hands. Before the bin was able to be investigated by the police, it was emptied. When Riley’s roommates, Steiner and Magana, looked for Riley by investigating the same trail, they found her AirPods and immediately called the police the moment they got home. Riley’s death leaves everyone feeling helpless, along with many officers and prosecutors attempting to help resolve the case.
On Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, Ibarra’s trial for murder began, with Allyson Phillips, Riley’s mother, and Riley’s other family members sitting in the courtroom. It was an extremely trying experience for all involved, especially Phillips, who was frequently sobbing during the course of the trial. Sitting down at the defense table was Ibarra, wearing headphones that translated the English language into Spanish, often staring at his lap, showing what some perceived as feelings of guilt. After being charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, and kidnapping, Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
