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Related: About this forumStudents, parents rattled after nursing student found dead on UGA campus; classes canceled
Students, parents rattled after nursing student found dead on UGA campus; classes canceled
By WSBTV.com News Staff
February 23, 2024 at 11:44 am EST
ATHENS, Ga. UPDATE 2/23/2024: A woman found dead on the University of Georgia campus after she went for a jog has been identified as 22-year-old Laken Hope Riley, according to the Athens-Clarke County coroner. Heres the latest on the investigation.
Police suspect foul play after a woman was found dead on the campus of the University of Georgia Thursday.
Just after noon on Thursday, UGA police received a call from someone asking officers to perform a welfare check on a friend who went for a run at the intramural fields in the morning and had not returned.
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Person of interest identified in death of nursing student found on UGA campus
By WSBTV.com News Staff
February 23, 2024 at 2:09 pm EST
ATHENS, Ga. University of Georgia officials have confirmed that they have identified a person of interest in the death of a student whose body was found on campus.
Friends reported 22-year-old Laken Riley missing after they say she went for a jog near the universitys intermural fields and never returned.
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mahatmakanejeeves
(61,259 posts)NEWS
BREAKING | UGA case: Murder suspect not a US citizen, didnt know victim, police say
The GBI and local police agencies work at Cielo Azulak Apartments on Friday in Athens,. A University of Georgia spokesman said they were there for the investigation into the death of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student. (Jason Getz / jason.getz@ajc.com)
By Alexis Stevens and
Fletcher Page
30 minutes ago
A 26-year-old Athens man has been charged with murder in the death of a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus.
The man, Jose Antonio Ibarra, was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another in the death of Laken Hope Riley, according to UGA police chief Jeffrey Clark.
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mahatmakanejeeves
(61,259 posts)February 25, 2024 at 11:08 a.m. UTC
By Courtney Francisco
ATHENS New details regarding the immigration and criminal history of a Venezuelan man accused of killing a 22-year-old nursing student, as well as his brother, who was arrested during the investigation, have been released.
Jose Ibarra, 26, has been charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing in connection to the murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley.
Riley, 22, died Thursday after the Athens-Clark County Police Department said someone attacked and killed her at the Intramural Fields on the University of Georgias campus Thursday.
Athens-Clarke police Chief Jeffrey Clark said Riley died from blunt force trauma.
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mahatmakanejeeves
(61,259 posts)By Maria Sacchetti and Nick Miroff
February 26, 2024 at 7:46 p.m. EST
People gather to mourn the loss of Laken Hope Riley during a vigil at Tate Plaza at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., on Monday. Riley was a nursing student at Augusta University, and was found dead Thursday on UGA's campus. (Joshua L. Jones/AP)
The killing of a Georgia nursing student allegedly by a Venezuelan migrant has quickly intensified the countrys immigration debate as President Biden and leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump prepare trips to the border this week.
The body of 22-year-old Laken Hope Riley was found in the woods near a jogging trail Thursday on the University of Georgia campus, and her death is one of several cases in recent years that Republican politicians have highlighted to depict migrants as dangerous.
On average, immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born U.S. citizens, data show, but Republican leaders have been galvanized by record numbers of illegal border crossings since Biden took office in 2021.
Its just outrageous, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, told Fox News on Monday. People are so frustrated. And this is something that weve been talking about for years now, about the porous southern border.
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Scott Clement contributed to this report.
By Maria Sacchetti
Maria Sacchetti covers immigration for the Washington Post, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the court system. She previously reported for the Boston Globe, where her work led to the release of several immigrants from jail. She lived for several years in Latin America and is fluent in Spanish. Twitter https://twitter.com/mariasacchetti
By Nick Miroff
Nick Miroff covers the Department of Homeland Security for The Washington Post, with a focus on immigration enforcement and the southern border. He was a Post foreign correspondent in Latin America from 2010 to 2017, and has been a staff writer since 2006. Twitter https://twitter.com/NickMiroff