A Georgia judge has denied a new trial for Laken Riley’s convicted killer, Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.
Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard denied the Tren de Aragua gang member’s request for a new trial, writing in a Monday order that the evidence against him was both “overwhelming and powerful,” according to CBS News.
Ibarra was found guilty on ten charges, including murder, kidnapping, and aggravated assault with intent to rape, for killing Riley while she was jogging on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. The Venezuelan national was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2024.
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Ibarra crossed the southern border illegally in September 2022 in El Paso, Texas, which was a popular smuggling route for the Venezuelan prison gang. He was subsequently released into the United States while his immigration case was pending and traveled to New York City, where he lived in a city-run shelter, according to the New York Post.
While in New York, Ibarra was arrested for riding a gas-powered moped with a child and no helmet or restraint, but was released without a detainer being enforced.
He then fled to Georgia, where his brother was living, and killed 22-year-old Riley on February 22, 2024.
Riley fought for her life, refusing “to be his rape victim,” prosecutors said, adding that Ibarra “bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly,” according to the New York Post.
Ibarra’s roommate at the time later testified that he had received a taxpayer-funded ticket to fly south, according to The New York Times. At the time, New York City was offering migrants travel accommodations to leave the city as it faced a crush of new arrivals from the border.
Riley’s killing became a flashpoint in the national immigration debate. President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act in 2025, requiring federal detention for illegal immigrants arrested for some crimes. He recently honored Riley’s parents during an event at the White House with Angel Families who’ve tragically lost loved ones at the hands of illegal immigrants.
Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, praised Trump’s work on border security, saying, “This happened to my family…and Laken was the most responsible, hardworking, kind, selfless, beautiful Christian and she wasn’t somebody that put herself in bad positions, she didn’t make bad choices, she was just a good girl.”
“She’s one in a ton of people that have suffered at the hands of illegal immigrants, she’s not the only one,” she added.
