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Athens, GA – March 10, 2025 – Jose Ibarra, the man convicted in the tragic 2024 killing of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, will not be granted a new trial. Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard denied Ibarra’s request on Monday, citing “overwhelming and powerful” evidence against him in his official order.
Ibarra’s legal team had argued that his constitutional rights were violated during the initial proceedings. Their arguments centered on the denial of two pretrial motions in 2024. One motion sought a trial delay to allow a defense expert witness to review DNA evidence, while the other aimed to exclude certain cellphone evidence from being presented during the case.
Currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Ibarra’s attorneys now have a 30-day window to appeal Judge Haggard’s latest order.
Laken Riley was discovered deceased near the intramural fields on the University of Georgia campus in Athens on February 22, 2024. Ibarra was convicted and sentenced within months of her death.
The case garnered significant national attention, particularly due to Ibarra’s identity as a Venezuelan immigrant. Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump highlighted the case in his campaign, vowing to address illegal immigration in the United States.
This led to the passage of the “Laken Riley Act” by the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress last year, signed into law by Trump.
This legislation authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to detain immigrants who have been arrested for nonviolent offenses such as theft, burglary, larceny, and shoplifting.