Laken Riley murder: Judge sentences college student killer after family addresses 'monster' in court

Haggard then sentenced Ibarra to life without the possibility of parole after Riley's family read victim impact statements aloud before the court on Wednesday afternoon. Ibarra showed no emotion as a translator repeated Haggard's sentencing to him in Spanish.

"Your honor, on February 22nd of 2024, our family and friends were given a life sentence without a chance of parole. Jose Ibarra took no pity on my scared, panicked and struggling child," Riley's mom, Allyson Philips said in a victim impact statement on Wednesday. "There is no end to the pain, suffering and loss that we have experienced or will continue to endure on that horrific day. My precious daughter was attacked, beaten and shown no mercy. She fought for her life and dignity and to save herself from being brutally raped. This sick, twisted and evil coward showed no regard for Laken or human life."

Philips described her daughter a "smart, hardworking, kind, thoughtful, and most importantly, a child of God." She "had a personal relationship with Jesus, and she loved being the hands and feet of his hands and feet in this world," Philips said.

"She shared her love for our Lord with others through her mission trips, working with elderly at the nursing homes and through her nursing career," Philips said. "Laken was an amazing friend, sister, niece, daughter and granddaughter. Anyone who knew her knew about her loving heart. Laken's life was not the only life taken on that day that Jose Ibarra attacked her. The life of her family and friends was taken, too. None of us will ever be the same."

Riley's sister, Lauren, called Ibarra a "monster."

Lilly Steiner, Riley's roommate, told the court, "Every time I wanted to go somewhere, I had to drive by the apartments that provided a roof over his head while he got to rip away ours."

Ibarra remained stoic, showing no emotion, as victim impact statements were read aloud. He occasionally looked up at speakers for seconds at a time.

Riley's family and friends sobbed as the judge announced his verdict before noon on Wednesday.

The decision elicited a reaction from President-elect Donald Trump, who made curbing illegal immigration a priority of his campaign.

"JUSTICE FOR LAKEN RILEY!" he posted on Truth Social. "The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes. Although the pain and heartbreak will last forever, hopefully this can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family who fought for Justice, and to ensure that other families don't have to go through what they have.

"We love you, Laken, and our hearts will always be with you. It is time to secure our Border, and remove these criminals and thugs from our Country, so nothing like this can happen again!"

"Laken Riley herself has given you all the evidence you need alone to find this man guilty of every single count in this indictment," prosecutor Sheila Ross said in her closing statement on Wednesday. "She did fight, and it is a direct result of that fight that gives you all the physical evidence you need to convict him."

"He killed her because she would not let him rape her," Ross added.

Prosecutors argued the "peeping Tom" incident was related to the attack against Riley because it happened just over an hour before she was killed and showed Ibarra's intent to prey on women the morning of Feb. 22.

Prosecutors said Ibarra saw Riley running along popular trails on UGA's campus just after 9 a.m. on Feb. 22, attacked her, dragged her 64 feet into a wooded area and beat her head with a rock repeatedly, killing her.

"In order to find this defendant not guilty of killing Laken Riley, you would have to disbelieve DNA," Ross said. "You would have to disbelieve fingerprint evidence."

During rebuttal on Wednesday, the prosecution played video footage of authorities interrogating Diego Ibarra the day after Riley's murder, showing Diego identifying his brother in security camera footage throwing the jacket with Riley's hair on it in a dumpster behind their apartment complex on the edge of UGA's campus. Diego identified Jose based on his clothing, hat and bag.

"Of course I know my own brother," Diego allegedly told police, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Special Agent Lucas Beyer, one of the officers who interviewed Diego.

Ibarra's defense attorneys argued that evidence against the Venezuelan national was circumstantial, and pointed to Jose's brothers, Diego and Argenis Ibarra, who share similarities with Jose in their DNA makeup. Diego was also seen wearing the same black, Adidas-style hat prosecutors say Jose was wearing Feb. 22 when police questioned Diego on Feb. 23. DNA matching Riley's was found on that same hat.

"The facts and the evidence in this case should leave you with some reasonable doubt," Kaitlyn Beck said in her closing argument on Wednesday, adding later that "while the evidence in this case is voluminous, it is circumstantial."

Much of the defense's arguments suggested Diego may have something to do with Riley's murder. Beck said in her closing statements that "it's more than possible that one brother's DNA would get on another brother's clothes."

Watch: Laken Riley, Jose Ibarra seen on trail camera footage day of murder

"I agree with the state, but Laken Riley was physically fit. She was fast. She could have outrun [Jose]. But there's another suspect in this case who was taller, who was more physically fit, who was wearing sneakers on the day of the murder. And that is Diego Ibarra," Beck said. 

Prosecutors, however, noted that security camera footage from a dining hall on UGA's campus, where Diego worked, showed Diego arriving and leaving work on Feb. 22.

Watch: Police enter Jose Ibarra's apartment

On Monday, the second day of Ibarra's trial, the court heard a recorded prison phone call between Ibarra and his wife, Layling Franco, that was played aloud and translated by an FBI analyst who spoke fluent Spanish. Judge Haggard on Tuesday ruled that the translated call could not be submitted as evidence.

"She said that she thinks it's crazy that they don't have anyone else's DNA. They only have his. And she says she doesn't understand how someone can see someone dying and not calling [sic] 911," FBI analyst Abeisis Ramirez testified in court Monday while translating the call for the prosecution.

The three brothers lived in an apartment building less than a half mile from the on-campus park where Riley was running the morning of Feb. 22. Their apartment complex backed up to a shortcut that leads to running trails along UGA's campus where Riley was found dead in a wooded area, partially naked and covered in leaves, that afternoon. She died of blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, according to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner.

Diego Ibarra, who worked briefly at a UGA cafeteria before his arrest in February, had ties to a known Venezuelan gang in the U.S., Tren de Aragua, according to federal court documents.