For suspect in the murder of the U. of Georgia, an unclear trail through states
Jose Antonio Ibarra, the man accused of killing a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus, migrated from Venezuela, was arrested as he illegally crossed the border near El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and took a detour to New York.
In addition to the border arrest, he was charged with two non-violent felonies before Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University, was killed last Thursday by apparent blows to the head on a University of Georgia running track.
Mr. Ibarra, 26, lived in a modest apartment complex filled with immigrants from all over the world who worked in poultry factories, fast-food restaurants and construction in and around Athens, Georgia.
His nomadic life was in some ways a familiar journey, until it became a very unfamiliar one – when he was charged with Ms Riley’s murder last Friday and thrust into the roiling currents of the country’s bitter division over immigration.
Now he faces charges of murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, obstructing a 911 call and concealing another person’s death. Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson said in preliminary findings that Ms. Riley’s cause of death was trauma to the head. Full autopsy results may not be available for another few weeks.
When Mr. Ibarra was arrested after crossing the border, he was quickly released with temporary permission to remain in the country, according to federal officials.
That release, or parole, was a practice the Biden administration used when officials were overwhelmed by large numbers of people crossing. About six months later, that practice ended.
It was typical for many Venezuelans to be released with permission to stay temporarily because they could not be repatriated to their country due to tense diplomatic relations between the United States and Venezuela. About six million Venezuelans have fled their troubled country, the largest displacement in Latin America’s modern history.
Mr. Ibarra then went to New York City, where he had trouble with the police. In August, he was arrested after riding a scooter without a license and with a child who was not wearing a helmet.
He was not prosecuted or imprisoned. The records are sealed and it was not clear whether he was instead issued a citation or fined for a motor vehicle violation.
He eventually moved to an apartment complex in Athens, Georgia, that was within walking distance of where Ms. Riley’s body was found, but appears to be a world away from the residents there.
The apartment complex has a diverse community of working-class immigrants, from various Latino and Asian backgrounds – Venezuelan, as well as Chinese and Indian.
Residents in the area have said they are concerned about the impact of this case on their undocumented neighbors.
A resident of the apartment complex said Mr. Ibarra’s brother, Diego Ibarra, 29, had moved in around May. Diego was hired as a dishwasher at the University of Georgia in early February before being fired after presenting a fake green card and failing to provide further documentation, a university spokesperson said.
Diego Ibarra was charged with possessing a fraudulent green card and arrested three times by the Athens police, also for driving under the influence. He must appear in court in March.
While in Georgia, the Ibarra brothers were arrested in October in connection with a shoplifting incident at a local Walmart. Officials at the time searched Jose Ibarra’s name through state and national databases but found no warrants against him or any other indication that he should be detained.
Mr. Ibarra was denied bond during a hearing on Saturday and remained in jail, authorities said.
The district attorney has appointed a special prosecutor to the case, and it has become a heated political battleground as some conservative politicians have dug into Mr. Ibarra’s immigration status. On Wednesday, demonstrators expressed anger over liberal immigration policies advocated by Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz, a Democrat. For example, he called for an end to the practice of holding arrested immigrants in jail for 48-hour periods, which gives federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials a chance to pick them up for possible deportation.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Police Chief Jerry Saulters declined to provide further details on the case, citing the ongoing prosecution. The investigation falls under the jurisdiction of the University of Georgia Police Department.
Eileen Sullivan And Ernesto Londoño reporting contributed. Kirsten Noyes research contributed.