The murder of a nursing student out for a run in Georgia has rattled a university campus and ignited a debate over an issue becoming a key battleground in America’s upcoming elections: immigration.
For all the devastation of Laken Riley’s friends and family, the 22-year-old’s death may have remained a local tragedy.
That was until police identified the suspect in the case as a 26-year-old Venezuelan man who entered the United States illegally, thrusting the killing into the centre of a national debate on immigration.
Donald Trump and his Republican allies seized upon Riley’s murder as a weapon in the 2024 election battle, placing blame on President Biden and Democratic border policies.
While her family prepares to lay Riley to rest, Trump and Biden will both travel to the US-Mexico border on Thursday to try to turn the immigration debate to their advantage. Both acknowledge the system is broken but blame each other. Biden says Trump derailed his bipartisan border deal while Trump insists the Biden administration has always been weak on immigration.
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A morning run ends in tragedy
Shortly after midday on Thursday, February 22, police received a call from a friend of Riley’s concerned that she had not returned from a morning run at a local field.
About 20 minutes later officers were dispatched to the scene to find the missing woman discovered her body in a wooded area behind Lake Herrick.
Riley had suffered “visible injuries” and despite officers administering emergency aid she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Further details have since emerged in affidavits linked to the arrest of Jose Antonio Ibarra. The suspect allegedly used an object to attack Riley before concealing her body in the woods, police said.
Laken Riley: ‘Amazing daughter, sister, friend and overall person’
Riley attended high school in Cherokee County, Georgia, and was a keen athlete, with her former cross-country coach Keith Hooper describing her as a dedicated runner.
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She studied at the University of Georgia before enrolling at Augusta University’s Athens campus.
The university said Riley had a promising future as a nurse and that the community would “miss Laken’s spirit on campus, and our hearts go out to her family and friends”.
Riley’s friends, meanwhile, have paid tribute on social media.
John Phillips, Riley’s stepfather, issued a statement on behalf of the family thanking well-wishers for their support and for donating to a GoFundMe set up in her memory.
“Laken was an amazing daughter, sister, friend and overall person in general,” Phillips said. “Her love for the Lord was exemplified in every aspect of her life. She will be missed every day, but we promise to honour her life moving forward in a very big way.”
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Phillips said that the money raised will go towards a foundation established in Riley’s name as well as spreading awareness of homicide and women’s safety. The page has so far raised more than $155,000.
Jose Antonio Ibarra: Venezuelan migrant who triggered a political firestorm
Ibarra was arrested the day after Riley’s body was discovered and was subsequently charged with her murder.
He entered the US illegally near El Paso, Texas, in 2022, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and he was previously arrested in New York City.
Ibarra was working for food delivery companies including Uber Eats when he was arrested for endangering the welfare of a child — riding on a moped with a young boy on the back, the New York Post reported.
New York City is a so-called “sanctuary city”, so officials there do not comply with federal attempts to have illegal migrants deported.
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Layling Franco, Ibarra’s wife, told the Post that he was usually “calm”. Police described Riley’s murder as a “crime of opportunity”.
Killing turned election ‘watershed’
Within Georgia, the revelation that the suspect was in the US illegally prompted uproar. Kelly Girtz, the Democratic mayor of Athens, was confronted by protesters over the city’s sanctuary policies on Wednesday. Protesters shouted at him to resign and said he had “blood on his hands”.
Republicans took the outrage to the national level, laying blame for Riley’s death at the door of President Biden and insisting it proves his immigration policies put Americans at risk.
Trump, who is almost certain to be the Republican nominee in November’s election, reacted furiously to Riley’s killing on his platform Truth Social, writing that it “should have NEVER happened”.
“Crooked Joe Biden’s Border INVASION is destroying our country and killing our citizens!” the former president wrote, promising to “seal the border” and “stop the invasion” should he return to the White House.
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Trump, 77, also promised to “begin the largest deportation operation of illegal CRIMINALS in American History”.
While on the campaign trail in 2016, Trump used a murder by an undocumented migrant as a political weapon. He cited the killing of Kate Steinle in an attack on his then-rival Hillary Clinton at the Republican National Convention: “My opponent wants sanctuary cities. But where was the sanctuary for Kate Steinle?”
Steinle was killed at San Francisco’s Pier 14 in 2015 by a man who had previously been deported five times. Her family quietly campaigned for better implementation of immigration law away from the spotlight of the national election stage — and condemned the way she was thrust into it. “For Donald Trump, we were just what he needed — beautiful girl, San Francisco, illegal immigrant, arrested a million times, a violent crime and yadda, yadda, yadda,” her mother, Liz Sullivan, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We were the perfect storm for that man.”
Riley’s family have thus far stayed silent on the current political outrage, which escalated on Wednesday as nine members of the House of Representatives joined Trump’s fury in a letter to Biden. “Mr President, we must ensure justice for Laken, and that starts by securing the border,” they letter states. “We will not waver in our effort to resist your administration’s failing policies that weaken our nation’s immigration law and national security.”
The criticisms hold undeniable appeal to voters — a new Gallup poll in the days after Riley’s killing found that immigration is the most important issue facing the US, with 28 per cent of respondents putting it top of the list. That is the first time since 2019 that immigration has topped the Gallup list.
Paul Mauro, a retired attorney and legal and criminal justice analyst, described Riley’s death as a “watershed moment”.
Mauro told The Times: “Because of the horrific nature of the event, this one has broken through and it has become a real talking point for everybody but the president because as of now, President Biden has not commented on it directly.”
The White House released a comment on Biden’s behalf, offering condolences to Riley’s loved ones. “People should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty,” a statement read.
Other Democrats laid the blame at the door of the Republicans. Gloria Butler, the Georgia Senate minority leader, called the Republican response to Riley’s death “appalling” and blamed the party for failing to pass legislation that would cut the record number of border crossings.
“Our border crisis continues because Donald Trump has convinced one party that the only thing that matters is putting Donald Trump first no matter the cost,” Butler said.
Beyond the growing political war of words, Riley’s death is ringing a bell across America. Mauro said the outrage is strong enough to continue to the election, when it could influence voters heading to the polls.
He said: “Every time you see the photograph of this poor young woman who was out for a jog with her whole life ahead of her… your sense of outrage gets rekindled.”
