Nine months after cross-country runner Laken Riley was killed on the Athens campus, her family can now sigh in relief after justice was served and her murderer has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The 22-year-old had just gone for a run before she was beaten to death by 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, according to a report by . Her roommates had reported that she was missing when she never returned to her hostel after the run.
The police then began their research and to their shock, she was found near the school’s intramural fields. was then pronounced dead, with the cause being blunt force trauma and asphyxia.
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Riley had a love for running and used to compete in cross-country races while at the River Ridge High School in Woodstock, Ga. She even competed at the Georgia AthHalf in October 2023.
In the court proceedings, the prosecution revealed that Laken suffered eight wounds on her head with a depressed skull fracture. the suspect’s DNA was also found on Riley’s fingernails and a jacket. The jacket also had Riley’s DNA.
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Riley had a smartwatch on and it revealed the time she stopped running and around that time, she also tried calling 911. After some time, the location of the watch moved into the woods before her heart stopped.
was convicted of three counts of felony, kidnapping, aggravated assault with an attempt to rape, and aggravated battery among others.
The was also found guilty of malice murder, obstruction and tampering with evidence. That was not the first time that he found himself in hot soup as he was also convicted of peering into another student’s apartment and trying to break into her house. He was trying to open the door repeatedly.