She Was Killed During A Morning Jog On Campus And The Find My iPhone Feature Alerted Her Roommate That Something Was Wrong
Laken Riley, a 22-year-old University of Georgia College of Nursing student, was brutally killed on February 22 during a morning jog on campus. Now, the murder trial against 26-year-old Jose Ibarra is underway after beginning on Friday, November 15.
Laken, who had made the dean’s list student shortly before her death, had left for a run on her normal trail route at 9:03 a.m. that Thursday morning when she encountered Jose, a Venezuelan migrant.
Using a Garmin smartwatch she was wearing, which she’d been gifted for Christmas, investigators were able to determine that something made Laken “stop dead in her tracks” at about 9:10 a.m.
At 9:11 a.m., Laken also activated the emergency function on her cell phone to dial 911. The audio from her final phone call was played in court on Friday, and only a male voice could be heard. The call left Laken’s mother in tears.
“She’s on this trail with this defendant for about four minutes, and then you see four minutes later, her Garmin [smartwatch] moves 65 feet into the woods,” explained prosecutor Sheila Ross.
Laken’s roommate, Lilly Steiner, testified before the court and detailed how, earlier that morning, she had seen Laken’s location using the Find My iPhone feature.
“I checked her location to see where she was, and I saw that she was on a run on a trail that she typically ran,” Lilly stated.
Once Lilly realized that Laken’s location had not changed by 10:45 a.m., she went to search the trail for Laken with another roommate. They found an AirPod, which they thought was Laken’s, and took a photo. Then, they returned home with the AirPod and contacted UGA police at about 12:05 p.m.
According to Ross, Laken’s encounter with her killer was “long” and “fierce.” Her heart stopped at 9:28 a.m., based on her smartwatch data, and there was no more movement thereafter.
GoFundMe – pictured above is Laken
The state alleges that Jose was “hunting for females” on the college campus, and when Laken refused to be his victim, he “bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly.” Her cause of death was blunt-force trauma to the head.
“The evidence will show that Laken fought. She fought for her life, she fought for her dignity, and in that fight, she caused this defendant to leave forensic evidence behind. She also marked her killer for the entire world to see,” Ross claimed.
After authorities were contacted about Laken’s disappearance, it took approximately 21 minutes for responding officer Sgt. Kenneth Maxwell to locate her body. She was found partially clothed, and Maxwell’s body camera footage was played in court, showing he immediately began to perform lifesaving measures.
In court, Danielle Stuart, a crime scene analyst with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, described injuries to Laken’s body.
“Her hair was very tangled, which made it difficult for me to locate the additional injuries, and tangled with… leaves, blood, dirt, tangled in her hair,” Stuart said.
At the crime scene, there was reportedly a large spot without any leaves where Stuart believed a “significant disturbance” occurred. Laken’s cell phone was found in leaves at the scene, with a fingerprint in the region “where you would swipe to unlock” with “reddish stains suspected to be blood.”
On surveillance footage, Jose was allegedly seen throwing clothing into a dumpster. The next day, February 23, he fled to be with his brother, Diego Ibarra.
Jose was arrested one day after Laken’s body was discovered and has remained in jail without bail. He is charged with 10 offenses, including murder, kidnapping, and assault.
“[Ibarra] put on a black hat, a hoodie-style jacket, and some black kitchen-style disposable gloves, and he went hunting for females on the University of Georgia’s campus,” stated Ross during opening statements.
Black rubber gloves with holes and blood were recovered during the investigation into Laken’s murder.
As Laken fought for her life, she collected critical DNA evidence underneath her fingernails. Additionally, a dark blue jacket was reportedly found with a mixture of both Laken’s and Jose’s DNA. The prosecution alleged this evidence implicates Jose as her killer.
Following Jose’s arrest, his injuries were photographed at the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. He had injuries and scratches on his arms, hands, neck, and back.
“He also left behind [evidence] in a struggle with her over her phone. He left behind his left thumbprint on her iPhone,” Ross claimed.
Yet, Jose has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his defense attorney, Dustin Kirby, said that any evidence is “circumstantial.”
The trial is set to continue this week, and Laken’s roommate, Lilly, spoke of her spirit in court.
“Laken brought a sense of joy to all of our lives that has been missing ever since,” Lilly said.
You can view the GoFundMe for Laken here.
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