Prosecutors share how a smartwatch left clues in the killing of Laken Riley. Here are the key trial takeaways so far
Emotions ran high among members of the gallery Friday at the start of the murder trial for Jose Ibarra, the undocumented migrant charged in the 22-year-old Augusta University student’s death earlier this year.
Riley, who had made the dean’s list at the university’s College of Nursing shortly before her death on February 22, was on her morning jog at the University of Georgia’s campus when prosecutors said she encountered Ibarra.
“(Ibarra) put on a black hat, a hoodie-style jacket and some black kitchen-style disposable gloves, and he went hunting for females on the University of Georgia’s campus,” prosecutor Sheila Ross said during opening statements Friday.
“When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly,” Ross said.
Prosecutors described Riley’s final moments as she fought for her life, collecting beneath her fingernails crucial DNA evidence they claim identifies Ibarra as her attacker and killer.
Ibarra, 26, faces 10 charges including malice murder and aggravated assault with intent to rape in connection with Riley’s death. He waived his right to a jury trial during a court hearing earlier this week.
The Venezuelan migrant is also charged under Georgia’s “peeping Tom” law. He went to a UGA apartment building on the same day Riley was killed, looked through a window and spied on a student, the indictment showed.
Riley’s death sparked political controversy and debate over crime and illegal immigration during the 2024 election season.
Technology leaves clues in Riley’s death
The morning of her final jog, prosecutors said Riley wore a smartwatch she was gifted for Christmas. “This watch captured a lot of important data,” Ross said.
Investigators could determine based on the watch’s data analyzed by the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team that around 9:10 a.m., something happened “to make (Riley) stop dead in her tracks,” according to Ross. Around that time, Riley initiated her phone’s SOS function and called 911.
“She’s on this trail with this defendant for about four minutes, and then you see four minutes later, her Garmin (smartwatch) moves 65 feet into the woods,” Ross told Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard, who will determine Ibarra’s fate.
Ross described Riley’s encounter with her attacker as “long” and “fierce,” according to the watch’s data. “Once her heart stops at 9:28 a.m., there’s no more movement from her (smartwatch),” the prosecutor said.
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