The nursing student killed last week on the University of Georgia campus in Athens called 911 during the attack and was connected to a dispatcher, but police officers were apparently not sent.
British tabloid The Daily Mail said they asked UGA campus police about one of the charges against Jose Antonio Ibarra, accused of killing 22-year-old Laken Hope Riley while she was on a run — hindering a 911 call — and was told that Riley made that call and was connected, but Ibarra cut the call short.
Police refused to release audio of the call or the transcript, the Daily Mail said. The Daily Mail either didn’t ask if police were dispatched based on that call or didn’t report the answer.
A friend of Riley’s called 911 later in the day on February 22 after the Augusta University student hadn’t returned from a morning run, as CrimeOnline reported. Police searched the area around Lake Harrick and quickly found her body. Preliminary autopsy results say she died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Ibarra entered the United States in Texas in 2022 and applied for asylum from his native Venezuela. After the state of Texas bused him to New York City, he was arrested there for driving without a license and endangering a 5-year-old child who was in the vehicle. After that arrest, he made his way to Athens, Georgia, where his brother lived.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Laken Hope Riley/Facebook]
