(NewsNation) — Opening statements will begin Friday in the trial of the man prosecutors say killed 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.
Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national, is charged with murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, battery and tampering with evidence. If convicted, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors have said they won’t pursue the death penalty.
Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial earlier this week and instead opted for a trial by judge.
The case became fodder for the national debate over immigration, but Riley’s family has said they don’t want her death exploited as a political wedge.
The trial is expected to continue into next week.
What we know about the case
The investigation into Riley’s death began when a friend reported her missing on Feb. 22 after she didn’t return home from a run.
Soon after, officers discovered her body on the University of Georgia campus in a forested area.
The University of Georgia Police Department arrested Ibarra in connection to Riley’s death the following day.
Prosecutors allege he beat the Augusta University student with an object and dragged her body to a secluded area off the jogging path.
Police say the attack was random.
Fueling immigration concerns
Riley’s death sparked widespread outrage over immigration policies in the United States.
Immigration and customs enforcement quickly revealed that Ibarra and his brother were living in the country without proper documentation.
Politicians and media outlets used Riley’s death to bolster false claims of a “migrant crime wave” — an alleged phenomenon that statistics don’t support.
“I’d rather her not be such a political, how you say — it started a storm in our country,” Riley’s father Jason Riley told NBC News in March. “And it’s incited a lot of people.”
Multiple studies, including one published by the National Academy of Sciences, suggest U.S. citizens are more than twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes, compared to the arrest rate of people in the country illegally.
“It makes me angry,” Jason Riley said. “I feel like they’re just using my daughter’s name for that. And she was much better than that, and she should be raised up for the person that she is. She was an angel.”