Donald Trump pays tribute to Laken Riley as Republicans say her illegal immigrant killer deserves death penalty
Donald Trump paid tribute to beloved Laken Riley Wednesday after a judge found her undocumented killer guilty of murder and sentenced him to life in prison, in a case he highlighted repeatedly in his campaign.
Donald Trump paid tribute to beloved Laken Riley Wednesday after a judge found her undocumented killer guilty of murder and sentenced him to life in prison, in a case he highlighted repeatedly in his campaign.
JUSTICE FOR LAKEN RILEY! The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes, Trump posted on his Truth Social website.
Although the pain and heartbreak will last forever, hopefully this can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family who fought for Justice, and to ensure that other families don’t have to go through what they have, he said.
Trump used emotional language, on a day family and friends gave dramatic testimony to the judge and shed tears in court.
Her body was found near the University of Georgia, where she had transferred from, less than an hour after she was reported missing.
We love you, Laken, and our hearts will always be with you. It is time to secure our Border, and remove these criminals and thugs from our Country, so nothing like this can happen again! wrote Trump.
Now-convicted murderer Jose Ibarra was found guilty on all 10 counts. He had pleaded guilty to the murder of the late 22-year old.
Ibarra, 26, who entered the U.S. illegally, was found guilty on murder and other charges by Judge Patrick Haggard in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court. As he read the verdict aloud, Rileys family members and friends could be heard sobbing, while Ibarra sat stony-faced.
Former President Donald Trump expressed hope that a judges death penalty verdict can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family of the late Laken Riley
Haggard heard the evidence and rendered the verdict after Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial.
Trump and other Republicans often cited Rileys murder in claiming falsely that migrants who crossed the southern border illegally were responsible for a wave of violent crime.
Trump spoke about her case at the Republican convention, where he blamed the Biden Administration for letting her killer into the country.
Yet another American life was stolen by a criminal alien set free by this administration, he said. Tonight, America, this is my vow. I will not let these killers and criminals into our country.
Trumps House Republican ally Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called for Rileys killer to get the death penalty even though prosecutors chose not to pursue that option.
Jose Ibarra deserves the death penalty, the Republican congresswoman from Georgia wrote on X.
He deserves exactly what he gave to Laken, she added.
But, since Georgia prosecutors didnt seek the death penalty, the judge can choose life without parole or life with parole.
Prosecutors said Ibarra encountered Riley, 22, on a wooded trail while she was out running on Feb. 22 and killed her after she resisted his efforts to rape her.
In her closing statement earlier on Wednesday, prosecutor Sheila Ross called the evidence against Ibarra "overwhelming," including DNA under her fingernails that authorities linked to the defendant, scratches on Ibarras body and video footage of a man matching Ibarras description throwing a bloodied jacket into a dumpster soon after the murder.
Defense attorneys argued that the evidence was circumstantial and could not rule out another attacker.
Rileys case made national headlines in March during President Joe Bidens State of the Union address, when firebrand U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene interrupted his speech to demand that he "say her name."
Family members and friends of Laken Riley react as Superior Court as Judge H.A Patrick Haggard announces the verdict on Wednesday
Rileys body was found less than an hour after she was reported missing, near a lake on the University of Georgia campus
Biden went off-script to mention Riley, whom he described as an innocent woman killed by an "illegal." Republicans criticized him for appearing to mispronounce Rileys first name, while Biden later apologized for using the word "illegal" to refer to a person.
Biden, then the Democratic nominee for president, dropped out of the race in July and was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost earlier this month to Trump.
Trump has vowed to pursue mass deportations of immigrants after he is sworn into office in January. (Reporting by Joseph Ax Editing by Bernadette Baum and Bill Berkrot)
