Venezuelan migrant Jose Ibarra found guilty of killing US student Laken Riley

A Venezuelan man was convicted of murdering Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student whose killing became a rallying cry for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's harsh rhetoric about illegal immigration.

Jose Ibarra, 26, a migrant who entered the U.S. illegally, was found guilty of murder and other charges by Judge Patrick Haggard in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court. As he read the verdict aloud, Riley's family members and friends could be heard sobbing while Ibarra sat stony-faced.

Haggard heard the evidence and rendered the verdict after Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial.

During the presidential campaign, Trump and his Republican allies used the case to criticize President Joe Biden's immigration policies, claiming they fueled fears of increased crime by people entering the U.S. unlawfully.

Does Georgia have the death penalty?

No. Anyone who commits a capital crime after May 1, 2000, and receives a death sentence will be executed by lethal injection, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Who is Laken Riley?

Riley, 22, a nursing student at Augusta University's Athens campus, was running at the University of Georgia on the morning of Feb. 22 when she was attacked. Prosecutors said Ibarra, 26, intended to sexually assault her at the university's intramural fields complex. He was arrested the following day at a nearby apartment building.

Where is Jose Ibarra from?

Jose Ibarra, a migrant who entered the U.S. illegally and was apprehended by Border Patrol agents near El PAso in 2022, is from Venezuela.

USA Today contributed to this report.

Source: Reuters