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.
“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.