Elderly Georgia pizza shop owner 'Mama Sid' runs for commissioner in town where Laken Rilley was murdered: 'It's time for change!'

An elderly Georgia pizza shop owner is running for county commissioner in Athens, the town where Laken Riley was killed by 'blunt force trauma.' 

Sidney Anne Waters, who owns Mama Sid's Pizza, is running for district 8 commissioner in Athens-Clarke County with the slogan 'A fresh slice for district 8.'

'I suddenly had a reality check that there are many of us in Athens who really didn't know what our government was doing,' she told Fox on Thursday. 

'The day before qualifying ended, I decided to go in and put my name on the ticket,' she continued, with a group of supporters behind her in the pizzeria. 

The community has been on edge after an illegal Venezuelan immigrant allegedly killed nursing student Riley and 'seriously disfigured' her body and skull, Waters said. 

Sidney Anne Waters, a Georgia pizza shop owner, is running for county commissioner in Athens, the town where Laken Riley was killed by 'blunt force trauma'

Waters, who owns Mama Sid's Pizza, is running for district 8 commissioner in Athens-Clarke County with the slogan 'A fresh slice for district 8.'

The community has been on edge after an illegal Venezuelan immigrant allegedly killed nursing student Riley(pictured) and 'seriously disfigured' her body and skull, Waters said 

'Everybody is quite concerned because we have discovered that our local government is not transparent with us. They have resolutions and agreements going that the public had no idea about,' Waters said.

'I don't really know how familiar our commission was with the 2019 resolution that opened up a lot of sanctuary. We're not a sanctuary city, but we have sanctuary policies that somewhat control us.' 

Waters is referring to the resolution signed in 2019 by Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz and Clerk of Commission Jean Spratlin.  

The resolution says the local government 'is welcoming to people from all lands and backgrounds and strives to foster a community where individuals and families of all statuses feel safe, are able to prosper and can breathe free.' 

It also states: 'our immigrant and undocumented neighbors, especially those of Latinx heritage, face daily fears and threats from individuals and institutions such as ICE.' 

Girtz previously warned 'against conflating immigration and crime' and argued that Athens does not technically fall under the category of 'sanctuary city.'

A sanctuary city limits or rejects cooperation with the federal government in shielding illegal immigrants, which is against state law. 

'Everybody is quite concerned because we have discovered that our local government is not transparent with us. They have resolutions and agreements going that the public had no idea about,' Waters(pictured with husband) said

Waters is referring to the resolution signed in 2019 by Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz(pictured) and Clerk of Commission Jean Spratlin 

The 22-year-old Riley had never returned from her jog last month, and her body was discovered in a field on the Athens campus 

Jose Ibarra, 26, is accused of using a mystery object as a weapon to kill the 22-year-old Augusta University student

Waters said: 'Mayor Girtz just came out and read that policy one evening and signed it. He personally petitioned the U.S. State Department for us to become a refugee resettlement site. 

'Nobody knew about that, so what does all this mean? How many people have we welcomed into our community and who are they?'

'When you're standing on the outside looking in and talking with them at different chamber meetings, you don't think they're listening.' 

'And the way you get them to listen is to become a part of them... I want to be a part of the commission so I can at least express my opinion and know that they are heard.'

The 22-year-old Riley had never returned from her jog last month, and her body was discovered in a field on the Athens campus. 

Jose Antonio Ibarra was arrested for her murder and has been charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another. 

The 26-year-old crossed into El Paso, Texas in September 2022 but had been released from a detention center due to a lack of space, according to NewsNation reporter Ali Bradley.

Police said Riley was killed by blunt force trauma. They say Ibarra dragged her body to a secluded area to conceal the death, according to an arrest affidavit seen by CBS News.

Police have said Ibarra, who lived in Athens, did not know Riley, but campus surveillance footage and other technology led them to the migrant.  

Ibarra is accused of 'seriously disfiguring Riley's body by disfiguring her skull,' and is also charged with preventing Riley from making a 911 call when he allegedly grabbed her between 9am and 1pm Thursday.

 Officials confirmed that Ibarra is not a US citizen and did not know or have any kind of relationship with Riley

Riley, 22, was found dead Thursday afternoon after her roommate reported her missing, saying she had not returned from her jog

Republicans including Marjorie Taylor Greene have called for Ibarra to receive the death penalty, stating 'deportation is not enough'

Riley's body was found the same day on campus in a forested area near Lake Herrick that includes trails popular with runners and walkers. 

Republicans including Marjorie Taylor Greene have called for Ibarra to receive the death penalty.

'Ibarra is an illegal alien and murdered a young woman the age of my own children. Deportation is not enough. He deserves the death penalty,' the Georgia representative said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

'You want to break in our country, ILLEGALLY, and murder one of our girls. DEATH PENALTY!' She added in another.

 Georgia still has the death penalty, but has not executed anyone since 2020.

One DOJ report from Texas in 2020 found that relative to undocumented immigrants, U.S.-born citizens are over two times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over four times more likely to be arrested for property crimes.