Laken Riley's suspected killer is charged: Illegal migrant Jose Ibarra is indicted for student's murder and peeping on UGA staff member

Laken Riley's suspected killer has been officially charged with the 22-year-old's nursing student's murder.

Jose Antonio Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, was indicted on 10 counts by a grand jury in Georgia on Tuesday. 

The 26-year-old is also accused of peeping through a window to spy upon a staff member at the University of Georgia on the same day he allegedly killed Riley, as first reported by Fox News.

Riley was beaten to death while she was out for a run on the campus in Athens on February 22. 

The indictment claims Ibarra inflicted blunt-force trauma to her head and 'asphyxiated her in a manner unknown to jurors.'

It also states that Ibarra 'seriously disfigured her head by striking her head multiple times with a rock.'

Laken Riley's suspected killer has been officially charged with the nursing student's murder 

Jose Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant, was indicted by a grand jury in Georgia on Tuesday 

Ibarra is charged with malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing or hindering a person from making a 911 call, tampering with evidence and acting as a peeping Tom.

Jose Ibarra's ties to violent gang  

Ibarra's older brother Diego has ties to organized crime 

He allegedly went inside one of the university's apartment complexes 'for the purpose of becoming a peeping tom in that he did peep through the window and spied upon and invaded [the employee's] privacy.'

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. 

Ibarra crossed into El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 but had been released from a detention center due to a lack of space. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said he had previously been arrested in NYC. 

Police say he concealed a jacket and gloves that were evidence to the alleged murder. 

Riley studied at the University of Georgia through the spring of 2023 before transferring to Augusta University’s College of Nursing, according to a statement from the University of Georgia, which does not have a nursing program itself. She remained active in the sorority she joined at the University of Georgia. 

The killing shocked Riley’s fellow students in Athens, where more than 41,000 attend UGA and another 210 are enrolled in the medical program where Riley studied nursing.

The nursing student became  he face of immigration reform for many conservatives in the days since she was killed.

At the State of the Union address, president Joe Biden held up a pin with Riley’s name on it as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shouted from the gallery: 'Say her name!'

Hours after Riley was slain, Athens homicide detectives pulled a photo from a surveillance camera of a potential suspect who wore a distinctive Adidas hat, according to a federal affidavit obtained by The Associated Press. 

Riley was a senior nursing student enrolled at the university and grew up in Woodstock, Georgia. Before she earned her undergraduate degree at UGA in 2023, she graduated from River Ridge High School in 2020.

Ibarra's brother, Diego, also an illegal migrant, has notched up a lengthy criminal history since arriving in April 2023 on a forged Green Card

That eventually led them to an off-campus apartment complex where they searched the grounds and a Dumpster nearby and began to piece together details about Ibarra.

Ibarra shared the apartment with his brother Diego, who is accused of possessing a fake green card after he handed it to police as they hunted for the suspect.

Federal authorities found that Diego has ties to the Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua, a violent gang that has been trying to gain a foothold in the US. 

Homeland Security Investigators  found photos of Diego flashing the gang's hand signals online, along with identifying tattoos like stars, clocks, trains, weapons and crowns.

More pictures of him with firearms were found online even though illegal immigrants in the US are not legally allowed to own guns.

Riley was found dead on the University of Georgia campus on February 22 after allegedly being murdered by an illegal immigrant

President Biden holds a pin for slain Georgia student Laken Riley during his State of the Union speech, before he accidentally called her 'Lincoln' 

Diego Ibarra entered the country illegally in April 2023 and was arrested five months later with no license or insurance while driving at 80mph in a 40mph zone and drinking a can of Bud Light.

'I opened the driver's door and ordered him to step out of the vehicle, but he turned and began reaching inside of the vehicle, so I forcibly pulled him out,' the investigating officer wrote.

'The driver struggled and was brought to the ground, where there was a short struggle to handcuff him.'

Days later, police were called to a domestic disturbance at his apartment but did not arrest him.

Both brothers were cited on October 27 for allegedly stealing more than $200 from an Athens Walmart.

And Diego allegedly returned to steal more items on December 8, earning himself a two-year ban from the store.

UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark told reporters that officers searched Jose Ibarra's apartment in Athens and evidence shows that he acted alone.

'He did not know her at all. I think this is a crime of opportunity where he saw an individual and bad things happened,' Clark said.