More than a thousand mourners pack the church in honor of the student murdered in Georgia

More than a thousand mourners braved the rain and blustery cold outside to pack Woodstock City Church Friday for the funeral of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student who was killed last week on the University of Georgia campus 70 miles away beyond.

Ms Riley was attacked while jogging on February 22. She studied nursing at Augusta University after attending the University of Georgia until May.

“When the world loses someone like Laken, whose light consistently shone so brightly, it seems much darker in their absence,” Samer Massad, the lead pastor of the nondenominational church where Ms. Riley and her family attended, said earlier in a statement . the funeral on Friday afternoon. He continued: “Laeken was special. She was a gift to all who knew her.”

Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, a migrant from Venezuela who entered the United States illegally in September 2022, was charged with her murder in a case that immediately entered the bitter national debate over immigration. He was staying at an apartment complex less than a mile from the University of Georgia intramural fields, where Ms. Riley’s body was found near a wooded running trail.

.

In lieu of flowers, Ms. Riley’s family requested donations that would be used to cover funeral costs, establish a scholarship in her name and establish a foundation that would focus on women’s safety and homicide awareness . Red rubber bracelets reading “Laken Hope Riley Foundation” were distributed to those attending the funeral service.

As of Friday afternoon, nearly $180,000 had been raised.