{"id":21680,"date":"2026-03-13T12:51:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T12:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/judge-denies-new-trial-for-laken-rileys-illegal-immigrant-killer\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T12:51:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T12:51:46","slug":"judge-denies-new-trial-for-laken-rileys-illegal-immigrant-killer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/judge-denies-new-trial-for-laken-rileys-illegal-immigrant-killer\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Denies New Trial For Laken Riley\u2019s Illegal Immigrant Killer"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A Georgia judge has denied a new trial for Laken Riley\u2019s convicted killer, Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard denied the Tren de Aragua gang member\u2019s request for a new trial, writing in a Monday order that the evidence against him was both \u201coverwhelming and powerful,\u201d according<\/a> to CBS News.<\/p>\n

Ibarra was found guilty on ten charges, including murder, kidnapping, and aggravated assault with intent to rape, for killing Riley while she was jogging on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. The Venezuelan national was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"Supporters<\/p>\n

ELIJAH NOUVELAGE\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Ibarra crossed the southern border illegally in September 2022 in El Paso, Texas, which was a popular smuggling route for the Venezuelan prison gang. He was subsequently released into the United States while his immigration case was pending and traveled to New York City, where he lived in a city-run shelter, according<\/a> to the New York Post.<\/p>\n

While in New York, Ibarra was arrested for riding a gas-powered moped with a child and no helmet or restraint, but was released without a detainer being enforced.<\/p>\n

He then fled to Georgia, where his brother was living, and killed 22-year-old Riley on February 22, 2024.<\/p>\n

Riley fought for her life, refusing \u201cto be his rape victim,\u201d prosecutors said, adding that Ibarra \u201cbashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly,\u201d according<\/a> to the New York Post.<\/p>\n

Ibarra\u2019s roommate at the time later testified that he had received a taxpayer-funded ticket to fly south, according<\/a> to The New York Times. At the time, New York City was offering migrants travel accommodations to leave the city as it faced a crush of new arrivals from the border.<\/p>\n

Riley\u2019s killing became a flashpoint in the national immigration debate. President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act in 2025, requiring federal detention for illegal immigrants arrested for some crimes. He recently honored Riley\u2019s parents during an event at the White House with Angel Families who\u2019ve tragically lost loved ones at the hands of illegal immigrants.<\/p>\n

Riley\u2019s mother, Allyson Phillips, praised Trump\u2019s work on border security, saying,\u00a0\u201cThis happened to my family\u2026and Laken was the most responsible, hardworking, kind, selfless, beautiful Christian and she wasn\u2019t somebody that put herself in bad positions, she didn\u2019t make bad choices, she was just a good girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s one in a ton of people that have suffered at the hands of illegal immigrants, she\u2019s not the only one,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Georgia judge has denied a new trial for Laken Riley\u2019s convicted killer, Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard denied the Tren de Aragua gang member\u2019s request for a new trial, writing in a Monday order that the evidence against him was both \u201coverwhelming and powerful,\u201d according to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-current-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}