Opening statements are expected Friday in the trial of the man accused of killing a Georgia nursing student, in a case that helped fan the immigration debate during the last election cycle. Jose Ibarra is charged with murder and other crimes in the February killing of Laken Hope Riley,

A judge on Friday will decide the fate of the man charged with murdering nursing student Laken Riley on the UGA campus.

The judge who will decide the fate of an undocumented migrant accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley is a no-nonsense, silvery-white-haired jurist whose father was killed in an armed robbery.

A man on Tuesday waived his right to a jury trial in the killing of a Georgia nursing student, a case that became a flashpoint in the national immigration debate. Jose Ibarra was charged in the February killing of Laken Hope Riley,

The man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has waived his right to a jury, paving the way for his bench trial, which is expected to begin Friday morning.

In a case that became a flashpoint in the nation’s debate over immigration during the 2024 election, the bench trial for the suspect in the murder of a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus begins Friday.

The defendant, Jose Ibarra, was charged in the killing of Laken Riley, whose body was found on the University of Georgia campus earlier this year.