The U. of Georgia Assassination: What We Know

The body of a 22-year-old woman was found Thursday in a wooded area at the University of Georgia in Athens, sending shockwaves through Clarke County, a community about 70 miles (110 kilometers) east of Atlanta.

When authorities revealed that the man accused of the murder was an immigrant from Venezuela, the crime became a political flashpoint.

The victim, Laken Riley, was a nursing student at nearby Augusta University. On Friday, Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, was charged with murder. The two did not know each other, authorities said.

Many questions remain about the killing, believed to be the first on campus in nearly thirty years. Here’s what we know.

The victim

Mrs. Riley was once a student at the University of Georgia.

Ms. Riley was a student at the school until the spring of 2023. She then enrolled in the nursing program at Augusta University, which has a campus in Athens. school officials said. She attended Augusta University dean’s list autumn 2023.

In posts on Instagram, Ms. Riley’s friends described her as a wonderful friend, student and roommate, who loved running, dancing and singing, and who had an infectious laugh.

Bianca Tiller, Ms. Riley’s freshman roommate, said Ms. Riley “lit up every room she walked into and put a smile on everyone’s face.”

Mrs. Riley was also an accomplished runner. She attended high school in Cherokee County and was on the River Ridge High School cross country team. She competed several times in the Georgia High School Association State Cross-Country Finals, her former coach, Keith Hooper, said in a statement, adding that Ms. Riley “was a selfless individual.”

The suspect

Mr. Ibarra lived in Athens and was from Venezuela.

Mr. Ibarra lived in an apartment complex about a mile from the wooded path where Ms. Riley’s body was found, said Jeffrey Clark, chief of the university police.

Mr. Ibarra migrated to the United States from Venezuela, authorities said. He was arrested by the Border Patrol in September 2022 for crossing the border illegally and was quickly released with temporary permission to remain in the country, according to federal officials.

That release, or parole, was a practice the government used when officials were overwhelmed by large numbers of people crossing. About six months later, that practice ended.

It appears that Mr. Ibarra also spent some time in New York City. He was arrested by New York police in August and subsequently released, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A law enforcement official in New York said Mr. Ibarra had been riding a scooter without a license and with a child who was not wearing a helmet.

Mr. Ibarra was denied bond during a hearing on Saturday and remained in jail, authorities said.

The murder

Mrs Riley went missing after going for a run.

Shortly after noon Thursday, a friend reported to campus police that Ms. Riley was missing after she failed to return from a run around the university’s intramural fields, according to university police.

At 12:38 p.m., officers found her body in a patch of woods near a lake. Ms. Riley “was unconscious and not breathing” and had “visible injuries,” police said.

Chief Clark said Friday that she died of “blunt force trauma.”

According to arrest affidavits filed in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Mr. Ibarra is accused of using an object to assault Ms. Riley. and dragging her body to a remote area.

The charges against Mr. Ibarra include murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, obstructing a 911 call and concealing the death of another, Chief Clark said. Asked about a motive, he said: “This was just a crime of opportunity.”

Mr. Ibarra appeared to have acted alone, authorities said.

Politics

The killing has sparked disputes over immigration policy.

Many conservative politicians, including Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a native of Athens, have done so linked the assassination of President Biden’s immigration policies. They argue that the policy has flooded the country with more migrants than the system can handle.

In a social media post, former President Donald J. Trump called Mr. Ibarra a “monster” and accused Mr. Biden of an “invasion” that is “killing our citizens.”

Such statements have struck many liberals as demagogic rhetoric. Kelly Girtz, the Democratic mayor of Athens-Clarke County, said the conversation should focus on mourning the victim and on blaming an individual rather than a group.

“This murder was a violent, heinous act,” he said, “and rests squarely on the shoulders of the perpetrator.”

More than six million Venezuelans have fled their troubled country in the past decade, the largest displacement in Latin America’s modern history.

At the apartment complex listed as Mr. Ibarra’s address, a resident, Manuel Alcides, 26, said many Venezuelan migrants lived in the building. Mr. Alcides, who is also from Venezuela, said he did not know Mr. Ibarra.

“It is a danger to our community because society will look at this mistake and think the rest of us could be a threat,” Mr Alcides said. “But we are not all the same.”

Reporting was contributed by Richard Fausset, Adeel Hassan, Chelsia Rose Marcius And Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon.