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ATHENS, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – In a case that has become a flashpoint in the nation’s immigration debate during the 2024 election, the trial of the suspect in the killing of a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus (UGA) is ongoing.

RELATED: Live updates from the court

Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, is the undocumented immigrant from Venezuela charged in the February 22, 2024, death of Laken Hope Riley. The body of the 22-year-old Augusta University student was found on the UGA campus after a friend told police that Riley had not returned from her morning run. After a full day of testimony on Friday, court closed for the day shortly before 5:00 p.m. Court will reconvene at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, November 18.

On Friday, Sheila Ross, a veteran attorney with the Georgia Board of Attorneys who was tapped by Western District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez to prosecute the case, gave a chilling account of the timeline of Riley’s initial disappearance; the discovery of her body; and a subsequent trail of evidence that eventually led to Ibarra’s arrest.

“Jose Ibarra went cat hunting on the University of Georgia campus,” Ross said. “The evidence will show that Laken put up a fight. She fought for her life; she fought for her dignity.”

Defense attorney Dustin Kirby acknowledged that the evidence surrounding Riley’s death was “graphic and disturbing” and that her death was “a tragedy” and while “the evidence in this case is very good that Laken Riley was killed, the evidence that Jose Ibarra killing Laken Riley is circumstantial.”

Ross said cellphone and camera data showed Riley left her apartment to go for a run around 9:03 a.m. on Feb. 22; after she didn’t return home, her roommates began searching nearby jogging tracks around 11:30 a.m., where they discovered one of her AirPods.

Ross said Riley’s roommates returned home to report her missing. Police began searching the jogging trails in the area where Riley’s phone was ringing, eventually finding her body covered in leaves under a tree. Riley’s body was found 65 feet from a runway. Her phone was also found nearby, also covered in leaves. Police would later say Ibarra’s thumbprint was found on the device.

Ross said data taken from Riley’s Apple Watch showed she stopped around 9:10 a.m. when she called 911. The call was played in court, but no dialogue can be heard; however, what sounded like a male voice was heard at the end of the call.

At 9:28, Apple Watch data showed that Riley’s heart had stopped beating.

Trail camera photos were shown in court of Riley running, as well as her phone and photos of the woods where her body was found.

Ross also showed surveillance video of a man they identified as Ibarra going to a dumpster at his apartment complex, discarding a black jacket and then throwing gloves into a bush nearby. Ross said both the jacket and gloves had Riley’s blood and DNA on them.

The prosecution’s first witness was Lily Steiner, who said she was tracking Riley’s iPhone when he didn’t return home and noticed the device hadn’t moved in three hours. Steiner then said she called 911 to report Riley missing; that appeal was played out in court.

Kevin McGreevy, communications training coordinator for Athens-Clarke County Police 911, oversaw a digital enhancement of Riley’s 911 call. He said the 911 call was ended “by the caller”; when a 911 dispatcher called back, there was no answer.

Another 911 call was broadcast from a UGA student who reported someone was trying to break into her home around 7:75 a.m., about 90 minutes before police said Riley was killed.

Riley’s roommate, Connolly Huth, became emotional as she recalled running with Riley three to six times a week. She said Riley will always be listening to music or calling her mom during a run, and will always wear either an Apple Watch or Garmin and tight compression clothing.

Because of Riley he died blunt force trauma in attack; police believe there is no connection between her and Ibarra, who earlier this week waived his right to a jury trial and agreed to a bench trial.

Sgt. Kenneth Maxwell, the Athens-Clarke County police officer who discovered Riley’s body, attempted to revive the August University student and set up a perimeter around the scene once other EMS arrived.

Ibarra faces charges of malicious murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, obstructing a 911 call and concealing the death of another. State Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard preside over Ibarra’s trial.

Ibarra’s arrest warrants accuse him of “disfiguring” Riley’s skull by hitting her with an unidentified object. He also allegedly dragged her body to a “secluded area” to conceal the death, according to the warrants.

Riley grew up in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, graduated from River Ridge High School in Cherokee County, where he ran on the cross-country team, and then attended the University of Georgia in Athens. She later transferred to Augusta University’s college of nursing, taking classes at its Athens campus, not far from UGA’s sprawling campus. She remained active in the community she had joined at UGA.

The US Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Ibarra “was paroled due to detention capacity at the Central Processing Center in El Paso, TX,” and ICE officials said Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally.

The problem of illegal immigration was a key point in the president-elect Donald Trump’s successful search TO claim the White House.

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