Laken Riley murder: Closing arguments begin as verdict looms in Jose Ibarra trial

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WATCH LIVE: Trial resumes for illegal immigrant suspect accused of killing Laken Riley

Jose Ibarra appears in court for the fourth day of trial in the murder of nursing student Laken Riley.

ATHENS, Ga. — Defense attorneys for Jose Ibarra, the suspect accused of murdering Augusta University student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus in February, rested their case Wednesday morning after bringing just two witnesses forward on Tuesday.

The Athens-Clarke County court heard from 29 of the prosecution’s witnesses over three days in Ibarra’s murder trial, which began Nov. 15, with prosecutor Sheila Ross highlighting evidence ranging from Ibarra’s DNA on key pieces of evidence to security camera footage and cellphone data placing him at the location of the crime at the time Riley was killed.

“Laken Riley herself has given you all the evidence you need alone to find this man guilty of every single count in this indictment,” prosecutor Sheila Ross said in her closing statement on Wednesday. “She did fight, and it is a direct result of that fight that gives you all the physical evidence you need to convict him.”

“He killed her because she would not let him rape her,” Ross added.

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Jose Ibarra appears at his trial in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Ibarra, 26, is charged with 10 counts in Riley’s murder and a “peeping Tom” incident on the morning of Feb. 22. Prosecutors argued the peeping Tom incident is related to the attack against Riley, 22, because it happened just over an hour before she was killed and showed Ibarra’s alleged intent to prey on women the morning of Feb. 22.

Prosecutors say Ibarra saw Riley running along popular trials on UGA’s campus just after 9 a.m. on Feb. 22, attacked her, dragged her 64 feet into a wooded area and beat her head with a rock repeatedly, killing her.

Witnesses testified that DNA matching Ibarra’s was found in Riley’s fingernails and on a jacket with Riley’s hair recovered from a dumpster near his apartment complex.

Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, was found dead near a lake on campus on Feb. 22. An illegal immigrant has been charged with her murder.  (Laken Riley/Facebook)

“In order to find this defendant not guilty of killing Laken Riley, you would have to disbelieve DNA,” Ross said. “You would have to disbelieve fingerprint evidence.”

During rebuttal, the prosecution played video footage of authorities interrogating Diego Ibarra the day after Riley’s murder, showing Diego identifying his brother in security camera footage throwing the jacket with Riley’s hair on it in a dumpster behind their apartment complex on the edge of UGA’s campus. Diego identified Jose based on his clothing, hat and bag.

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A hat allegedly belonging to Jose Ibarra is presented as evidence during the trial for Ibarra in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Athens, Ga.  (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Poo)

“Of course I know my own brother,” Diego allegedly told police, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Special Agent Lucas Beyer, one of the officers who interviewed Diego.

Ibarra’s defense attorneys have so far argued that evidence against the Venezuelan national is circumstantial, and they have pointed fingers toward Jose’s brothers, Diego and Argenis Ibarra, who share similarities with Jose in their DNA makeup. Diego was also seen wearing the same black, Adidas-style hat prosecutors say Jose was wearing Feb. 22 when police questioned Diego Feb. 23. DNA matching Riley’s was found on that same hat.

Athens-Clarke County police officer Zachary Davis points out the jacket he collected from a dumpster on photograph as he testifies on the witness stand during a trial of Jose Ibarra, accused of killing a Georgia nursing student earlier this year,  at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

“The facts and the evidence in this case should leave you with some reasonable doubt,” Kaitlyn Beck said in her closing argument on Wednesday, adding later that “while the evidence in this case is voluminous, it is circumstantial.”

Much of the defense’s arguments suggested Diego may have something to do with Riley’s murder. Beck said in her clothing statements that “it’s more than possible that one brother’s DNA would get on another brother’s clothes.”

Watch: Laken Riley, Jose Ibarra seen on trail camera footage day of murder

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“I agree with the state, but Lincoln Riley was physically fit. She was fast. She could have outrun [Jose]. But there’s another suspect in this case who was taller, who was more physically fit, who was wearing sneakers on the day of the murder. And that is Diego Ibarra,” Beck said. 

Prosecutors, however, noted that security camera footage from a dining hall on UGA’s campus, where Diego worked, showed Diego arriving and leaving work on Feb. 22.

Argenis and Diego have been subpoenaed to testify as witnesses for the defense, but the court ultimately decided not to allow their testimony because they are currently involved in their own criminal cases. Jose’s defense attorney, John Donnelly, mentioned that Diego’s defense attorney advised that he should not testify during Jose’s trial while he is currently charged with green card fraud. 

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Allyson Phillips, second from left, mother of Laken Riley, reacts as John Phillips, stepfather of Riley, comforts her during the trial of Jose Ibarra at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

The defense’s second witness, Stephanie Slaton, lived in an apartment next to the Ibarra family at the time of Riley’s murder. She testified that she spoke to Diego Ibarra Feb. 23, the day after Riley died, while “a lot” of police were walking around in the area of the complex. 

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From left, Connolly Huth, roommate of Laken Riley, and Lauren Phillips, Riley’s younger sister, become emotional during the trial for Jose Ibarra at the Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Athens, Ga.  (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Diego Ibarra suggested he did not know why police were walking around and asked Slaton what had happened. Slaton, in turn, explained that someone had “passed away” behind their apartment complex. Two police officers then approached them and asked what they were talking about. Slaton answered them, and they walked away, she said.

Slaton then testified that Diego, whom she had a sexual relationship with at the time, used a translator app to tell her in English, “If you tell them, I will tell them you did it, and then I will kill you too.”

Watch: Police enter Jose Ibarra’s apartment

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On cross-examination, Slaton admitted she could not speculate what Diego meant by “if you tell them” because he had been unfamiliar with Riley’s murder and the reason police were walking around their apartment building. She also admitted she had been angry at Diego for having relations with another woman.

On Monday, the second day of Ibarra’s trial, the court heard a recorded prison phone call between Ibarra and his wife, Layling Franco, that was played aloud and translated by an FBI analyst who spoke fluent Spanish. Judge Haggard on Tuesday ruled that the translated call could not be submitted as evidence.

Federal prosecutors say Tren de Aragua members often wear Chicago Bulls clothing, even when they have no ties to Chicago and are not fans of the team. Investigators found this photo among multiple images of Diego Ibarra, a suspected member of the gang, wearing Chicago Bulls items. (Middle District of Georgia)

“She said that she thinks it’s crazy that they don’t have anyone else’s DNA. They only have his. And she says she doesn’t understand how someone can see someone dying and not calling [sic] 911,” FBI analyst Abeisis Ramirez testified in court Monday while translating the call for the prosecution.

Ibarra and his brothers were in the United States illegally from Venezuela at the time of their respective arrests after Riley’s murder. Diego is charged with green card fraud after showing police a fake ID on Feb. 23, and Argenis has been placed on an immigration hold. 

Prosecutor Sheila Ross speaks while holding an evidence bag during the trial of Jose Ibarra at the Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Athens, Ga.  (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Ibarra illegally crossed into the United States through El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was released into the U.S. via parole, ICE and DHS sources previously told Fox News.

The three brothers lived in an apartment building less than a half mile from the on-campus park where Riley was running the morning of Feb. 22. Their apartment complex backed up to a shortcut that leads to running trails along UGA’s campus where Riley was found dead in a wooded area, partially naked and covered in leaves, that afternoon. She died of blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, according to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner.

The area where Laken Riley’s body was found near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens, Ga., Feb. 24, 2024.  (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)

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ICE previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that Jose Ibarra had been arrested by the New York Police Department a year after he entered the U.S. in August 2023 and was “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.”

Diego Ibarra, who worked briefly at a UGA cafeteria before his arrest in February, had ties to a known Venezuelan gang in the U.S., Tren de Aragua, according to federal court documents.

Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to audrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants.