First appearance on FOX Jose Ibarra, the suspect in the February murder of Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley, is seeking a hearing to suppress a list of evidence including cellphones, oral swabs and social media accounts.
Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, is suspected of attacking and killing 22-year-old Riley as they were driving along a dirt road. University of Georgia campus in Athens The morning of February 22nd.
Specifically, Ibarra is seeking to block disclosure of “(a) the two cell phones the State believes to be in Defendant's possession and the information contained therein, (b) genetic and physical information taken from Defendant's personal data, (c) the contents of Defendant's social media accounts, including Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, and (d) location information obtained from Google.” “This motion is supported,” the court documents filed Thursday state.
Ibarra's defense argues that the items were illegally collected by law enforcement and that detectives entered his residence without a search warrant. He seeks to bar the evidence based on the “poisonous fruit” doctrine, which holds that certain evidence obtained through illegal means is inadmissible.
Suspect indicted in Laken Riley murder case
Jose Ibarra appears in court for the Laken Riley murder hearing. (My)
Ibarra's defense also said in court documents filed Thursday that the suspect was “detained without reasonable suspicion that he committed any crime on February 23, 2024.”
In addition to requesting the exclusion of evidence, Ybarra also seeks to exclude the testimony of a witness who conducted a DNA test during Riley's autopsy, arguing that the results “not only did not exclude the defendant, but also did not exclude other known individuals connected to the incident.”
Laken Riley murder suspect Jose Ibarra pleads innocent as mother breaks down in tears in court
Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook after Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, was found dead near a lake on campus on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (Allison Phillips/Facebook)
“Due to the complexity of the mixtures used in the tests, the tests were analyzed using TrueAllele Casework software. The results of this analysis were: [Ashley Hinkle, forensic biologist for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation] “The results indicated various probabilities that the sample in question was likely or unlikely to represent a particular individual, or likely to be a coincidence,” court documents state.
A Georgia grand jury indicted Ibarra in May on charges of malice murder, two counts of kidnapping with bodily injury, two counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit rape, two counts of aggravated assault, obstructing or interfering with a 911 call, tampering with evidence and being a “voyeur.”
Laken Riley's father says suspect 'may not have been here' if border was secure
Laken Riley's mother, Allison Phillips, center, became emotional as she sat next to Riley's stepfather, John Phillips, inside Clark County Superior Court in Athens on Friday, May 31, 2024, as Jose Ibarra pleaded not guilty to 10 charges in Riley's death. (Pool)
According to the indictment, the suspects inflicted blunt force trauma on Riley's head and “choked her in a manner unknown to the jury,” causing her death.
According to the indictment, the suspect also went to a dormitory on the University of Georgia campus on the same day he allegedly killed Riley and “spied” on university officials by “peeking” through a window.
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Jose Ibarra was arrested on February 23rd for his alleged involvement in the murder of Laken Riley on February 22nd in Athens, Georgia. (Clark County Sheriff's Office)
Ibarra and her brother, who were in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela and lived in an apartment on the edge of the on-campus park where Riley ran, allegedly killed Riley, an aspiring nurse. University of Georgia Police Chief Jeffrey Clark It has been described as a “crime of opportunity.”
The quiet, tree-lined loop that Riley ran that morning is easily accessible from the back of Ibarra's apartment, and it's a five-minute walk from his front door to the area where Riley was found dead.
Georgia Laken Riley funeral pays tribute to nursing student allegedly killed by illegal immigrant
A general view of the scene where Laken Riley's body was found near Herrick Lake on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Jose Antonio Ibarra has been charged with Riley's murder. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
The 26-year-old suspect El Paso, Texas ICE and DHS sources previously told Fox News that he was eligible for parole and release to the U.S. in September 2022. His brother, Diego Ibarra, has been charged with green card fraud and has ties to a known Venezuelan gang in the U.S., according to federal court documents.
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In a February statement after Riley's death, the University of Georgia said it had invested $16 million over the past eight years “increasing police presence, installing security cameras, improving lighting, implementing nighttime carpool programs and developing the UGASafe app.”
Since February, the university has invested more than $7.3 million in additional safety measures, including a 20% increase in the University of Georgia Police budget, emergency blue lights and a university-specific ride-share program.
Ibarra's trial is scheduled for November.
