The man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has waived his right to a jury trial in the case that has drawn national attention amid outrage over Georgia’s immigration policies. the Biden administration.

José Antonio Ibarra, 26, is on trial after his arrest earlier this year for the murder of the 22-year-old. Riley was killed in February while jogging on the University of Georgia campus, with authorities later determining the young woman died from blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation .

A 10-count indictment accused the illegal migrant from Venezuela of also intending to sexually assault the Augusta University School of Nursing student. On the day of Riley’s murder, the migrant reportedly looked out the window of an apartment in a university building, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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According to the indictment, Ibarra was charged with one count of malicious murder, three counts of felony murder and one count each of kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, obstruction of an emergency telephone call, tampering with evidence and peeping tom.

Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty, according to the LA Times. Instead, they will seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

During a recent court appearance, Athens-Clarke County Superior Judge H. Patrick Haggard questioned the suspect with the help of a translator about his decision to waive his right to a jury trial.

Prosecutor Sheila Ross informed Haggard that Ibarra’s attorneys informed her last week that they only wanted the case heard by a judge, with the suspect’s attorney, Kaitlyn Beck, presenting the judge with a signed waiver . Haggard determined that Ibarra consented to the decision and said the trial would begin Friday.

Ibarra entered the United States illegally via El Paso, Texas on September 8, 2022, and was later released for further processing.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), New York police arrested Ibarra on August 31, 2023, and was charged with injury to a child and a traffic violation. However, the illegal migrant was released before ICE could ask police to detain him on behalf of immigration authorities.

A month of August interim report of the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement blamed Riley’s death on Biden administration policies -Harris. The report cites Ibarra as an example of the millions of illegal aliens released by the administration who are “committing crimes across the country.”

“The Committee’s review of José Ibarra File A reveals that the Biden-Harris Administration’s border policies ensured José Ibarra’s release into the United States nearly two years ago,” the report said. “Despite living safely in Ecuador from January 2017 to July 2022, Ibarra traveled to the United States in 2022, potentially lured by the no-consequence immigration policies of President Biden and Vice President Harris .

A day after the Border Patrol apprehended Ibarra in September 2022, the administration released him into the United States because it had determined his release was warranted due to “urgent humanitarian reasons or an important public interest.” “.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also cited a lack of detention space as the reason for his release, but the commission pointed to the agency’s data, arguing that it could have arrested Ibarra.

“Following his release, Ibarra was free to commit crimes in the United States, including the kidnapping and murder of Laken Riley in Georgia,” the committee and its subcommittee note in the document.

Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips, called her daughter’s murder a “preventable tragedy” in a Facebook post earlier this year. She expressed gratitude for the support she and her family received after Riley’s murder.

“As I sat down to write this message, I truly had no words. My family has faced the most devastating and unimaginable loss that anyone could be forced to endure,” Phillips wrote. “I would like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for being with me and my family during this heartbreaking time. I encourage everyone to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I give him all the glory for helping us get through this.”