Jose Antonio Ibarra has been indicted on 10 counts including malice murder and felony murder for the death of nursing student Laken Riley.
An Athens Clarke County grand jury returned the indictment against the 26-year-old this week for his role in the Feb. 22 murder on the campus of the University of Georgia.
The additional charges include aggravated battery, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, and obstructing or hindering a person making an emergency telephone call. Additionally, Ibarra has been charged with tampering with evidence for allegedly “knowingly concealing a jacket and gloves."
Ibarra is a Venezuelan national who was illegally in the United States at the time of the attack. He is currently incarcerated at the Clarke County Jail.
"Ibarra will be arraigned on a date to be set by the court," a spokesperson for the Western Circuit District Attorney's Office said in a statement, per ABC News. "At this time, we will make no further statements on this case."
Ibarra was arrested on Feb. 23, the day after Riley’s body was discovered in a wooded area by law enforcement. The 22-year-old student was reported missing after she failed to return from a jog on the UGA campus.
In an affidavit filed by police in February, Ibarra was accused of “maliciously [causing] bodily harm to another by seriously disfiguring her body or a member thereof by disfiguring her skull” and of “dragging the victim to a secluded area.”
In addition to the murder charges, the grand jury indictment revealed Ibarra is accused of “peeping” through the windows of a UGA apartment and spying on a university staff member, per Fox News.
Riley’s death prompted national outrage, particularly among Americans who believe President Joe Biden’s administration has failed to secure the U.S.-Mexico border amid increasing illegal immigration.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp publicly mourned the nursing student and called on the federal government to release more information about illegal border crossings and asylum claims.
“As I have said many times before: every state is now a border state because of Joe Biden's inaction, and today I am again demanding answers and information from the Biden Administration that will help us protect our citizens when the federal government will not,” Kemp said in a statement.
Jason Riley, Laken’s father, addressed the Georgia Senate on March 20 as the chamber considered a resolution named for his daughter.
“I am a heartbroken man; part of my purpose has been taken," said Mr. Riley during his remarks. “God gave me a beautiful daughter to father, protect, provide for and nurture. A man with an evil heart stole her life. He was in this country and in this state illegally. My vision for every senator in this chamber is that you protect citizens from this illegal invasion.”
He urged Kemp to “declare an invasion to detain and deport criminal illegals” to “prevent future families from those tragedies.”
