Police this Friday arrested a suspect in the murder of a nursing student whose body was found on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, and said there is no further threat to the university community.
In a press conference this Friday, authorities identified the suspect as José Antonio Ibarra, 26, "lives here in Athens, but is not a US citizen," said Jeff Clark, the chief of the University of Georgia Police. .
Ibarra was charged with intentional homicide, murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping and concealing the death of another person.
The suspect was taken into custody for the death of 22-year-old Laken Hope Riley.
The Augusta University School of Nursing student's body was found near running tracks on Thursday after she failed to return from a race.
Clark clarified that
Ibarra's immigration status is unknown
, whether he had, for example, a legal residence permit or was in the country irregularly.
The arrest comes after a highly visible police investigation Friday that focused on an apartment complex just south of the wooded park where Riley's body was found.
Clark had previously said that “we are leaving no stone unturned in this investigation,” noting that there has not been a homicide on campus in the past 20 years.
“A suspect in the murder of Laken Riley has been arrested by the University of Georgia Police Department,” university police announced in a statement earlier.
“At this time, there is no indication of a threat to the UGA campus related to this matter.”
The School of Nursing at Augusta University in Athens, Georgia, on Feb. 23, 2024. Associated Press
Riley's body was found Thursday afternoon after a friend told police he hadn't returned from a morning run, according to authorities.
She was unconscious and had “visible injuries” when officers found her, the University of Georgia Police Department stated.
Authorities have classified the death as a homicide and said they were checking security cameras and advising students to travel in groups and avoid the wooded area where her body was found.
Police had set up a mobile command post at an apartment complex just south of the wooded area, with more than a dozen officers present.
At one point, officers searched a trash container at a gas station across the street.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Athens-Clarke County Police Department joined the university police department in the investigation.
Riley had studied at the University of Georgia through spring 2023 before transferring to the Augusta University College of Nursing, according to a statement from the University of Georgia, which does not have a nursing program itself.
Riley's sister, Lauren Phillips, paid tribute to her this Friday in a message on the social network Instagram, in which she called her “the best sister and my best friend.”
Riley graduated in 2020 from River Ridge High School in Woodstock, a suburb northwest of Atlanta, where she ran cross country.
“Our community and our world lost a bright light with Laken's tragic passing,” Cherokee County Schools Superintendent Brian Hightower said in a statement.
“An outstanding athlete, Laken inspired her classmates and teachers with her love of learning and her kindness toward everyone.
We ask that the community please keep her family in their hearts.”
The University of Georgia Police Department received a call on Thursday around 12:07 p.m. ET from a friend of Laken's who was concerned because the student had gone jogging in the fields inside the college. earlier in the morning and had not returned as expected,” a police statement said.
Officers immediately launched a search and found his body in a wooded area near Herrick Lake, which includes trails popular with runners and walkers.
Medical services determined that the young woman had died before police officers found her.
With information from
The Associated Press
and
WSAV