ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia Police Department have taken a suspect in custody in connection with the suspected homicide of a 22-year-old nursing student from Augusta University who police found dead on the University of Georgia campus Thursday.
Police have charged Jose Antonio Ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another, UGA Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark said during a news briefing Friday evening. The suspect is not a U.S. citizen, according to authorities.
Ibarra measures 5 foot 3 inches and weighs 170 lbs, per the Clarke County Sheriff’s Department booking sheet. Laken measured 5 feet 4 inches, weighing 115 lbs, according to a UGA Police Department report.
Jose Ibarra, who was originally taken into custody on Friday by the UGA Police Department in connection with Riley’s death, is now not believed to have had a connection to the victim. (Clarke County Sheriff’s Office)
“The evidence is robust,” he told reporters, crediting campus security cameras in part for the arrest.
Clark said he believed the attack was a “crime of opportunity” and that the suspected killer had no known connection to the victim. Ibarra is not a UGA student, he added.
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA POLICE QUESTIONING ‘PERSON OF INTEREST’ IN LAKEN RILEY HOMICIDE
Laken Riley smiles for a photo while running. Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, was found dead near a lake on campus on Thursday, February 22, 2024, after she failed to return from her morning jog. (Laken Riley/Instagram)
Ibarra’s immigration status was not immediately known to investigators, the chief said, adding that he believed the suspect is from Venezuela.
“Right now I don’t know his full status,” he said. “He is not a citizen of the United States.”
Police initially swept up three to four people during the early stages of the investigation but were only arresting and charging Ibarra, Clark added.
Police have charged Jose Antonio Ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another, UGA Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark said (Fox News Digital)
“While the perpetrator’s legal status is unclear, if the Chief’s statement is accurate and that he is a Venezuelan migrant — potentially admitted under the continuing ‘special status’ program — it is past time to recognize the obvious: Maduro has taken a page from Castro’s book and is emptying his criminals into the U.S., and we are holding the door open for them,” Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector, told Fox News Digital.