Video of Laken Riley's Murder Chronology Goes Viral, Family's Reaction Leaves Deep Sorrow
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Mobinity.com - New surveillance footage captures the heartbreaking moment police notify Laken Riley's family of his death. The murder of the Georgia nursing student brought immigration policy back into the national spotlight after it was revealed that the killer was an undocumented gang member from Venezuela who entered the US illegally.
Jose Ibarra, 26, was found guilty of premeditated murder and aggravated murder, along with eight other charges, in the February killing of Riley-a case that has inflamed debates about border security and the balance between immigration and public safety.
In a video played in court before the verdict on Wednesday, Riley's parents, Allyson and John, and her sister, Lauren, are seen crying after learning of her death.
"That's my daughter," her mother said through tears.
'Oh my God, oh my God,' her mother shouted.
She then fell to the ground, with her head in her hands, while Riley's sister and father wept.
Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard handed down the verdict on Wednesday, which drew gasps from the courtroom. Ibarra waived his right to a trial by jury, leaving Haggard solely responsible for hearing and deciding the case.
After a three-and-a-half-day trial, Haggard returned a guilty verdict against Ibarra. In addition to the murder charge, he was also charged with kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated assault, obstructing a person making an emergency call, tampering with evidence, and being a "peeping tom."
Riley, 22, was killed on February 22, after what prosecutors described as a violent attack by the defendant while she was jogging on a wooded trail near the University of Georgia campus.
