The suspect charged in connection with the murder of a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia has been identified as an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, FOX News Digital reported.
Jose Antonio Ybarra, 26, the suspect in the murder of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus, is a Venezuelan national who entered the United States illegally in El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was paroled into the United States. . three ICE and DHS officials told Fox News.
ICE has not made any official comment on the situation at this time.
Ybarra was taken into custody by UGA police on Friday. He is 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Department booking list. Laken was 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 115 pounds, according to a UGA Police Department report.
Police charged Jose Antonio Ybarra with malicious murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, interfering with a 911 call and concealing another death, said UGA Police Chief Jeffrey L.・Mr. Clark said this at a press conference on Friday night.
Ybarra appeared in court Saturday morning, where Clark County Magistrate Judge Donarelle Greene denied bail “for today.” Two interpreters were present, and Ibarra nodded when spoken to.
Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University who attended UGA before enrolling in the nursing program at Augusta University’s Athens campus, was found dead Thursday and placed on the dean’s list.
UGA Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark said police initially sought three or four people during the early stages of the investigation, but Ybarra was the only one arrested and charged.
Police are asking anyone who witnessed anything “related or suspicious” in the UGA intramural field and Herrick Lake area between 7 a.m. and noon Thursday to call 706-542-2200. Ta.
They found Riley there with “visible injuries” within 30 minutes of receiving a call from a concerned friend. Riley ran away and never returned.
According to an incident report obtained by Fox News Digital, multiple officers began searching for Riley near Intramural Field at about 12:07 p.m., and at 12:38 p.m., a UGA officer was seen on the ground. Found Riley.
“I called out to Mr. Riley, but there was no response,” the officer wrote.
She had visible injuries and police were unable to determine a pulse. They started CPR anyway. A sergeant arrived a few minutes later with a defibrillator, but attempts to revive the victim were unsuccessful.
Autopsy results were not yet available Friday, but authorities said they were investigating her death as a homicide. Clark said she appeared to have died from blunt force trauma.
Classes and events at both universities were canceled Friday.
Yesterday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted Ibarra’s brother Diego Ibarra, 29, on charges of possessing a forged and fraudulent green card.
This is breaking news.
