Laken Riley case: Judge set to sentence suspect found guilty of all counts in campus killing | LIVE
The suspect accused of murdering Laken Riley on the University of Georgia's campus was found guilty on all charges Wednesday, including malice murder and felony murder.
Prosecutors called the evidence against the suspect "overwhelming," while the defense raised the theory that the defendant could be an accomplice but not the killer during closing arguments in his trial.
Jose Ibarra, 26, was accused of killing the 22-year-old nursing student while she was out for a run after prosecutors said she "refused to be his rape victim." Jose Ibarra, an undocumented migrant, was charged with malice murder and felony murder in connection with her death, which became a rallying cry for immigration reform from many conservatives, including President-elect Donald Trump.
Jose Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial and the case was presented over four days in the Athens-Clarke County courtroom to Judge H. Patrick Haggard, who rendered the verdict on Wednesday.
Sobbing could be heard in the courtroom as he read his verdict.
Prosecutors called 28 witnesses while laying out what they said was evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Jose Ibarra killed Riley, who died by blunt force head trauma and asphyxia.
Special prosecutor Sheila Ross told the court Jose Ibarra encountered Riley while she was on her morning jog on Feb. 22 while he was out "hunting" for women on the Athens campus.
Ross said Riley "fought for her life" in a struggle that caused Jose Ibarra to leave forensic evidence behind. Digital and video evidence also pointed to him as the only killer, she said.
"The evidence in this case has been overwhelming, and the evidence in this case has spoken loud and clear -- that he is Laken Riley's killer, and that he killed her because she would not let him rape her," Ross said during her closing argument on Wednesday.
A forensics expert testified that Jose Ibarra's DNA was found under Riley's right fingernails, and that his two brothers, who lived with him in an apartment near the campus, were excluded as matches.
When Jose Ibarra was questioned by police a day after the murder, he had visible scratches on his arms, officers said. He also had scratches on his neck and back, which Ross said could have only been left by Riley.
"In order to not find him guilty, you would have to disbelieve your own eyes," Ross said.
"She marked him. She marked him for everyone to see. She marked him for you to see," Ross told the judge.
Prosecutors argued Jose Ibarra hindered Riley from making a 911 call, and said his thumbprint was left on her phone. Data from his Samsung phone and the Garmin watch Riley was wearing on her run showed the devices overlapped and were in close proximity in the forest where she was found dead, an FBI analyst testified.
Jose Ibarra was captured on Ring footage discarding a bloodied jacket and disposable gloves near his apartment about 15 minutes after Riley died, prosecutors said. The individual's face can't be seen in the video, but Jose Ibarra's roommate testified that it was him. The defendant's brother, Diego Ibarra, also identified him as the person in the video while being questioned by police a day after the murder.
Riley's DNA was found on the jacket and gloves, the forensics expert said. Jose Ibarra's DNA was also found on the jacket, while his two brothers were excluded as matches, the expert said.
"That is what we call consciousness of guilt in our business -- he threw away those items because he knew he had killed her, and he threw them away because he didn't want anyone to find him," Ross said.
