Testimony is set to resume on Tuesday morning in the trial of the man accused of murdering nursing student Laken Riley while she was out for a run on the University of Georgia campus.
On Monday, the court heard a jailhouse phone call between suspect Jose Ibarra and his wife Layling Franco, where she begs him to tell the truth about what happened that February day.
“What happened with the girl?” she says.
An FBI agent also testified that Ibarra’s cellphone location data places him “very close” to Riley at the time of her murder, with the victim’s smartwatch revealing the moment her heart stopped beating.
Prosecutors are expected to rest the case against Ibarra – a Venezuelan native who entered the US illegally – on Tuesday, with the defense then presenting around half a day of testimony. If convicted, Ibarra could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The murder case became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration during this year’s presidential campaign.
KEY POINTS
- How Laken Riley’s brutal murder became a divisive political issue
- Everything we know about the Laken Riley case
- Prosecutor says suspect was out ‘hunting for females’ on day of murder
- Ibarra’s wife asks ‘What happened with the girl’ in jail phone call
- State intends to rest its case against Ibarra on Tuesday
Laken Riley’s final text message was sent to her mother
15:13
Andrea Cavallier
On the morning of her murder, Laken Riley texted her mother hoping to talk to her while out for a run, the court heard on Tuesday.
“Good morning, about to go for a run if you’re free to talk,” Riley wrote.
Sophie Raboud of the UGA Police Department testified that Riley sent the message at 8:55 a.m. She then called her mother at 9:03 a.m. but there was no answer.
As the officer testified, Riley’s mother could be heard crying in court.
The next time Riley used her phone that morning, it was at 9:11 a.m. to call for help.
When Riley’s mother Allyson Phillips called her back at 9:24 a.m., there was no answer.
Phillips then texted at 9:37 a.m., “Call me when you can.”
After calling several times, her mother texted, “You’re making me nervous not answering while you’re out running. Are you OK?”
Again at 11:47 a.m., Riley’s mother texted, “Please call me, I’m worried sick about you.”
Jose Ibarra trial resumes – here’s what to expect
15:02
Andrea Cavallier
Court resumed this morning at 8:30 a.m.
The court is expected to hear from the state’s last few witnesses, including a medical examiner.
Ibarra’s brothers could also be called to the stand.
Prosecutors say they expect to rest their case today.
The defense will then begin to present their case and said they will need less than half a day for witness testimony.
Day 2 wraps up as state prepares to rest and defense has less than half a day of witnesses
Monday 18 November 2024 22:22
Andrea Cavallier
Day two of Jose Ibarra’s murder trial wrapped up on Monday and will resume on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Prosecutors told the court they will rest their case against Ibarra on Tuesday. The defense team was told to have their witnesses ready for the afternoon.
One of the defense attorneys told the judge they have less than half a day of testimony planned.
FBI agent says suspect’s phone data places him ‘very close’ to Laken Riley at time of murder
Monday 18 November 2024 22:18
Andrea Cavallier
FBI Special Agent James “Jay” Berni, who analyzed the suspect’s phone data, told the court that between 9:09 a.m. and 9:12 a.m., Jose Ibarra’s phone and Laken Riley’s digital profile were “very close” until “approximately, I would say, probably 9:32,” he said.
Riley’s smartwatch data showed her heart stopped at 9:28 a.m., according to earlier testimony.
The agent went on to say that Ibarra’s cell phone location then moved away from the crime scene, back to his apartment, to the dumpster where it’s alleged he dumped his jacket and back home around 9:44 a.m.
He also pointed out that the data showed movement from Ibarra’s apartment, then near the apartment of a doctoral student at the University of Georgia, who testified earlier that an unknown person was peeping into her home while she was in the shower, jsuyt an hour before Riley was killed.
Then, Ibarra’s “device was most likely in the forested area somewhere along this park (Oconee Forest Park),” at 9:09 a.m., Berni testified.
Jogger says she saw a person in hooded jacket standing ‘really, really still’ on the trail morning of Laken Riley’s murder
Monday 18 November 2024 21:21
Andrea Cavallier
Sally Kirklewski, who was an avid runner on the trails, testified that she saw a person on the trails the morning of Laken Riley’s murder who was standing “really, really still.”
The person appeared to be a man, she said, and was wearing a navy blue jacket with the hood up. He was wearing gloves and dark pants and dark shoes, she added.
When she spotted him, he was standing near a retention pond facing away from the trail, she said.
“I continued running past this person a little bit faster,” she said.
Laken Riley’s mother cries during testimony about the moment her heart stopped beating
Monday 18 November 2024 21:02
Andrea Cavallier
Laken Riley’s mother broke down in tears again in court on Monday – this time during testimony that revealed the exact moment her heart stopped.
University of Georgia police officer Wesley Durkit said that data from Laken Riley’s smartwatch show her heart rate and moving speed slowing down and then coming to a sudden stop at 9:10 a.m. Her heart stopped beating at 9:28 a.m., he said.
She activated the SOS feature on her phone at 9:10:39 a.m. and a 911 call went out at 9:11:06 a.m., Durkit testified.
Riley’s heart rate dropped to zero beats per minute and remained there until a few short spikes at 12:38 p.m., when a police officer performed CPR on her, he testified.
Woman testifies about peeping tom incident that happened hour before Laken Riley’s murder
Monday 18 November 2024 20:45
Andrea Cavallier
Tejaswi Stamilmnai Saraswathi, 24, testified about someone trying to get into her apartment while she was in the shower.
It happened on the morning of February 22 about an hour before Laken Riley’s murder.
Jose Ibarra faces the peeping tom charge related to the incident.
Saraswathi, who was a student at the University of Georgia, told the court she heard someone “fidgeting” with the door of her Athens apartment.
“When I went to see who it was, I saw through a peephole someone was trying to open the door,” she said. The person fled, but she saw that he was wearing a black hood, black jacket, a hat and black gloves. But she couldn’t see his face, she said.
Ibarra’s roommate testified they took ‘humanitarian flight’ from NYC to Georgia
Monday 18 November 2024 20:23
Andrea Cavallier
Jose Ibarra’s roommate Rosbeli Elisber Flores-Bello testified through an interpreter that she moved with him from New York City to Athens, Georgia, in September of 2023.
Flores-Bello was living in Queens when they met through his mother-in-law.
She said they moved to Georgia because Ibarra’s brother talked about the many work opportunities in Athens.
When asked by the state how they got to Athens, Flores-Bello said they requested a “humanitarian flight” in September.
“In Manhattan, at The Roosevelt Hotel, we asked for a humanitarian flight to come here to Atlanta, to come here to Manhattan,” she said.
The hotel was used as a temporary in-take center for migrants.
Jose Ibarra took selfies in clothes matching clothes seen in a surveillance video
Monday 18 November 2024 20:09
Andrea Cavallier
An image displayed in court shows Jose Ibarra who was seen wearing a hat that led the police to his arrest.
The selfies were found on Ibarra’s phone.
Ibarra’s wife asks ‘What happened with the girl’ in jail phone call
Monday 18 November 2024 20:01
Andrea Cavallier
In a recorded jail phone call played in court on Monday, Jose Ibarra’s wife, Layling Franco, urged him to tell the truth following his arrest for the brutal murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley earlier this year.
FBI specialist Abeisis Ramirez testified about the call, providing a Spanish to English translation of the conversation.
“She continues to ask him: What happened with the girl?” Ramirez testified. “She tells him that he has to know something, and he just continues to tell her like, ‘Layling enough, Layling enough.’”
Ramirez said Layling then “said that she thinks it’s crazy that they don’t have anyone else’s DNA – they only have his. And she said she doesn’t understand how someone can see someone dying and not call 911.”
“I know you know something,” she added on the call.
Ibarra’s brothers subpoenaed to testify
Monday 18 November 2024 19:20
Andrea Cavallier
Ibarra’s brothers have been subpoenaed to testify, according to a court filing Monday.
Jose Ibarra’s brothers, Diego and Argenis, lived in the same apartment. They face federal charges for allegedly having false immigration documents.
It’s not clear when they will take the stand.
FBI agent testifies about what was found on suspect’s phone
Monday 18 November 2024 17:57
Andrea Cavallier
FBI special agent Jamie Hipkiss testified Monday that there were selfies on Jose Ibarra’s phone that showed him wearing the same clothes as the suspect.
Ibarra was wearing a white-and-black shirt, black Adidas hat and navy blue jacket, according to Hipkiss.
He said the clothes are “consistent with” the suspect who was seen on video tossing out the jacket in a dumpster. The jacket was collected by investigators and was later determined to contain DNA from both Ibarra and Laken Riley.
“We see him removing the navy blue jacket and stuffing it into the recycling bin in his apartment complex, he appears to be wearing that exact same shirt there,” Hipkiss said on the stand.
His testimony will resume after the lunch break.
Court on lunch break
Monday 18 November 2024 17:38
Andrea Cavallier
Court is on a lunch break and will resume att 1:30 ET.
Who is Jose Ibarra?
Monday 18 November 2024 17:30
Andrea Cavallier
Jose Ibarra, who is from Venezuela and is not a US citizen, has no known connection to Laken Riley and no known violent criminal history. Instead, investigators described Riley’s violent death as a “crime of opportunity.”
Ibarra’s status as a non-US citizen sparked conflicting reports from law enforcement agencies about his criminal past on American soil – and during an election year spurred Republican lawmakers to seize on the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the hour to push offensive theories about migrants online.
President Joe Biden also sparked a backlash among some Democrats after referring to him as “an illegal” during his fiery State of the Union speech this year.
Now, Ibarra is on trial for murder.
Here’s what we know about Jose Antonio Ibarra:
Laken Riley’s mom sobs as photos of ‘fingernail scratches’ are shown in court
Monday 18 November 2024 17:10
Andrea Cavallier
Laken Riley’s mom Allyson Phillips sobbed in court on Monday as photos were shown of what appeared to be fingernail scratches on the suspect’s arms.
Video footage showed the moment officers confronted him about the scratches on his arms, but Ibarra did not have an explanation, Cpl. Rafael Sayan testified.
“First he says, ‘I don’t have anything there … there’s nothing there,’” Sayan said over the video. “Then he starts pointing at it again, saying that, ‘Oh, it’s just a scratch.’”
Jose Ibarra had no reaction when told about murder, suspect’s roommate says
Monday 18 November 2024 16:29
Andrea Cavallier
Ibarra’s roommate said he had no reaction when he was told about the murder that happened not far from their home.
Flores-Bello told the court that she heard about Laken Riley’s murder from a neighbor on February 22, the day of the killing.
She told Ibarra’s brother Argenis Ibarra about the news and it was shared with the other brothers, but no one reacted to it, she said.
When asked about the surveillance video of Ibarra, she admitted that she thought it was strange that he was throwing away his jacket.
Jose Ibarra’s roommate takes the stand
Monday 18 November 2024 16:24
Andrea Cavallier
Jose Ibarra’s roommate Rosbeli Elisber Flores-Bello is now testifying on the stand in his murder case.
She shared an apartment with Jose Ibarra and his brothers in Athens, Georgia at the time of the murder.
She recalled identifyingIbarra in surveillance video to officers when she was questioned on February 23.
Jose Ibarra and brothers appeared to be laughing when police talked to them day after murder
Monday 18 November 2024 16:13
Andrea Cavallier
Jose Ibarra and his brothers appeared to be laughing when police responded to his apartment the day after Laken Riley was killed, Cpl. Rafael Sayan, a UGA police officer, testified on Monday.
“There was a lot of laughing, giggling – especially when they were talking about how they were woken up, pulled out of the apartment,” Sayan said.
“I would say the vibe or the atmosphere was very relaxed and calm.”
Crime scene specialist reveals what was found at murder suspect’s home
Monday 18 November 2024 15:59
Andrea Cavallier
Annie Moorman, a crime scene specialist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, testified in court on Monday about what investigators found when they searched Jose Ibarra’s apartment the day after Laken Riley’s murder.
She said they collected electronic devices and kitchen gloves, which were “restaurant-style.”
Moorman added that this was important to the investigation because “earlier in the day, officers had located gloves that had been described as looking sort of like these from a bush at the apartment complex.”
No blood was found in the apartment.
ICYMI: Defense says there is not sufficient evidence against Ibarra
Monday 18 November 2024 15:50
Andrea Cavallier
Defense attorney Dustin Kirby said in his opening statements on Friday that Laken Riley’s death was a tragedy and called the evidence in the case graphic and disturbing.
But he said there is not sufficient evidence to prove that his client killed Riley.
He said prosecutors are relying on conflicting methods to link DNA and fingerprints to Ibarra. And then questioned how Ibarra’s fingerprints could be on the phone if he was supposedly wearing gloves.
“The evidence in this case is very good that Laken Riley was murdered,” Kirby said. “The evidence that Jose Ibarra killed Laken Riley is circumstantial.”
ICYMI: Prosecutor says suspect was out ‘hunting for female’ on day of Laken Riley’s murder
Monday 18 November 2024 15:35
Andrea Cavallier
During opening statements on Friday, Prosecutor Sheila Ross said Ibarra had been “hunting” for women on the day of the murder but when he came across Riley she “fought” back.
When she “refused to be a rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly.”
“The evidence will show that Laken fought,” she said. “She fought for her life, she fought for her dignity. And in that fight she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind.”
Riley’s mother sobbed in court during the proceedings.
Suspect could not explain scratches on arms
Monday 18 November 2024 15:26
Andrea Cavallier
Jose Ibarra did not have an explanation for the scratches on his arms, according to Cpl. Rafael Sayan, who testified in court Monday.
Sayan questioned the suspect after the first officer was unable to do so because of the language barrier.
In the body cam footage played in court, Ibarra can be seen pointing to his arms and wrist while speaking to the officer.
“First he says, ‘I don’t have anything there … there’s nothing there,’” Sayan said over the video. “Then he starts pointing at it again, saying that, ‘Oh, it’s just a scratch.’”
Sayan told the court that the scratch looked fresh as it appeared to be moist with bodily fluid, and that “it didn’t look very old.”
Bodycam footage shows moment officer sees what “looked like fingernail scratches” on suspect
Monday 18 November 2024 15:22
Andrea Cavallier
The first witness on Monday was a University of Georgia Police officer Sgt. Joshua Epps, who testified seeing injuries on Ibarra when he responded to the suspect’s home.
“While speaking to him, I noticed on his right arm, his bicep, there was a scratch,” he told the court. “On his left arm, he had a forearm scratch that was very similar – which in my mind, looked like fingernail scratches to me.”
“I also noticed on his left wrist, just below the palm, he had a puncture – maybe half an inch wide – that, through my experiences playing sports in high school, and receiving the same injury from fingernails in football, I could see, like, wet flesh, like almost like it was fresh. It wasn’t very old,” Epps said.
How Laken Riley’s brutal murder became a divisive political issue
Monday 18 November 2024 15:10
Andrea Cavallier
Laken Riley’s murder became a rallying cry for Republicans, an avoidable tragedy that they say encompasses the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S-Mexico border amid a record surge of immigrants entering the country.
Jose Ibarra, an immigrant from Venezuela who entered the United States illegally at El Paso in September 2022, is charged with murder and other crimes for the February slaying.
Immigration was already a major issue in the presidential campaign, and Republicans seized on Riley’s killing, with now-president-elect Donald Trump blaming Democratic President Joe Biden’s border policies for her death.
Republicans used Ibarra’s status to exemplify the ongoing issue at the southern border and touted Riley’s brutal killing as a way to bolster their anti-migrant agenda.
Read more:
Everything we know about the Laken Riley case
Monday 18 November 2024 15:00
Andrea Cavallier
When 22-year-old Laken Riley never returned after going for a morning run on the University of Georgia campus in February, her roommate became worried and called campus police.
The nursing student’s slain body was found later that day in a wooded area behind Lake Herrick, near UGA’s intramural fields on campus, according to University of Georgia Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The next day, Jose Ibarra, 26, who is not a US citizen, was arrested and charged with murder in Riley’s death, a case that quickly became a flashpoint in the national immigration debate.
Now, nine months later, Ibarra is on trial for her murder.
Read more:
Testimony resumes today in Laken Riley suspect murder trial
Monday 18 November 2024 14:55
Andrea Cavallier
Testimony has resumed in the trial of Jose Ibarra, who is accused of killing Georgia nursing student 22-year-old Laken Riley, in a case that became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration during this year’s presidential campaign.
Follow along with The Independent for updates.