University of Georgia police have arrested a 26-year-old Athens resident for the murder of Augusta University nursing student Laken Hope Riley.
Riley was found dead with “visible injuries” near the UGA intramural fields on Thursday after a friend reported that she’d gone for a run and not returned, as CrimeOnline reported.
UGA Police Chief Jeff Clark announced Friday that Jose Antonio Ibarra had been charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another.
Ibarra was not a UGA student but lived in Athens, Clark said. He was not a US citizen, but Clark said he did not know his immigration status, nor did he know what country he was from.
“He did not know her at all,” he said. “I think this was a crime of opportunity.”
“This is an individual who woke up with bad intentions.”
Clark said Riley died from blunt force trauma and that there’s no evidence anyone else was involved.
The chief said that investigators used extensive surveillance video to identify and locate Ibarra and that a search warrant of the suspect’s apartment was being executed.
“This is heartbreaking. Yhis is a heartbreaking time for the university,” Clark said, noting that it was the first homicide on campus in nearly 30 years.
Riley completed her undergraduate work at UGA last year and started work at Augusta University’s nursing school campus in Athens. Her family lives in Woodstock, Georgia.
Ivarra is being transferred to the Clarke County Jail.
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[Featured image: Laken Hope Riley/Facebook]
