Murder of Laken Riley
2024 murder in Athens, Georgia, US
Summary
On February 22, 2024, Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student, was attacked and murdered while she was jogging at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, United States. Her body was found in Oconee Forest Park near Lake Herrick; her death was caused by blunt force trauma and asphyxiation. The perpetrator, José Antonio Ibarra, was a 26-year-old Venezuelan man who had entered the United States without authorization. He was arrested by UGA police and charged with 10 counts, including felony murder, malice murder, false imprisonment, aggravated assault with intent to rape, and kidnapping. Ibarra was found guilty on all charges on November 20, 2024, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Originally created by PuzzleSolved999
3/2/2024, 3:21:09 AM
Modified
5/12/2026, 5:22:35 AM
Recent revisions
Changed "illegal" immigrants to "undocumented" or "unauthorized" immigrants in all places except direct quotes for consistency and compliance with Wikipedia naming conventions to avoid controversial terms; minor grammatical edits
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Added more information about defence motion
Added quote from Judge Haggard about denying request for new trial
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Added information about lawsuit recently filed by Laken Riley's father
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/* Murder */ added "smart" before "watch" to better clarify that it wasn't a normal watch that was frozen in time, but rather a smart watch that recorded a final heartbeat
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Added number of people who attended her funeral service
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