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ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — A 26-year-old man was arrested Friday within the killing of a nursing pupil whose physique was discovered on the College of Georgia campus, and police mentioned he apparently didn’t know the sufferer, he acted alone and there was no additional menace to the college group.
The suspect, recognized as Athens resident Jose Antonio Ibarra, was taken into custody for the loss of life of 22-year-old Laken Hope Riley, police mentioned. The physique of the Augusta College School of Nursing pupil was discovered close to operating trails Thursday, launching a extremely seen police investigation that centered on an house complicated simply south of there.
Video from campus safety and different know-how led police to Ibarra, who lived in one of many flats, College of Georgia Police Chief Jeff Clark mentioned in a Friday night information convention.
The proof authorities have gathered within the case is powerful, and so they consider it was a “solo act” by Ibarra, in keeping with Clark. He additionally mentioned the investigation means that the suspect and sufferer had no relationship.
“This was a criminal offense of alternative the place he noticed a person, and unhealthy issues occurred,” Clark mentioned.
Ibarra faces fees together with malice homicide, felony homicide, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 name and concealing the loss of life of one other, in keeping with Clark. Authorities had been taking him to Athens-Clarke County Jail.
It wasn’t instantly recognized if Ibarra had an lawyer who may communicate on his behalf. Clark mentioned Ibarra doesn’t have an intensive legal historical past and isn’t a U.S. citizen, however he didn’t know Ibarra’s immigration standing.
Riley’s physique was found Thursday afternoon after a pal instructed police she had not returned from a morning run, authorities mentioned. Officers instantly started a search and located her physique in a forested space close to Lake Herrick that features trails fashionable with runners and walkers.
Emergency medical responders decided she died earlier than officers discovered her. Clark mentioned Friday that the reason for loss of life was blunt pressure trauma, however he didn’t elaborate.
Riley studied on the College of Georgia via the spring of 2023 earlier than transferring to Augusta College’s School of Nursing, in keeping with an announcement from the College of Georgia, which doesn’t have a nursing program itself. She remained energetic within the sorority she joined on the College of Georgia.
Riley’s sister, Lauren Phillips, paid tribute to her Friday in an Instagram submit, calling her “the perfect sister and my inbuilt greatest pal from the very first second.”
“This isn’t truthful and I’ll by no means perceive it however I do know you might be in heaven with the person you liked most proper now,” Phillips wrote. “I’m undecided how I’m going to do that however it’s all going to be for you any longer. I can’t wait to provide the greatest hug sometime. I’ll miss and love you endlessly Laken.”
Riley graduated in 2020 from River Ridge Excessive College in Woodstock, a suburb northwest of Atlanta, the place she ran cross nation.
“Our group and our world misplaced a shining gentle with the tragic passing of Laken,” Cherokee County colleges Superintendent Brian Hightower mentioned in an announcement. “An excellent scholar athlete, Laken impressed classmates and academics along with her love of studying and her kindness to all. We ask that the group please maintain her household of their hearts.”
The realm the place Riley was discovered is close to the campus’ intramural fields, and solely a bit of farther from a big dormitory complicated occupied largely by first-year college students. Officers had suggested college students to journey in teams and keep away from the world.
Police arrange a cellular command submit at an house complicated close by, with greater than a dozen officers current. At one level, officers searched a dumpster at a fuel station throughout the road.
First-year enterprise main Paige Soskel, who was having espresso Friday with a pal in downtown Athens, mentioned she was surprised to assume that Riley was killed through the day.
“It was form of simply surreal to assume that we now have pals within the sorority that she was in,” Soskel mentioned. “And simply to assume that it’s anyone that folks we all know truly know is simply scary — that it might be anybody.”
She mentioned she already tries to let others know the place she is, together with utilizing a web-based monitoring service. However now she’s contemplating additional precautions, and her father despatched her pepper spray.
Nate Stein, who graduated in December with a biomedical engineering diploma, mentioned he’s more likely to be “on edge for a bit of bit.” His roommate is a frequent runner, and so they typically train within the space across the lake.
“I used to stroll there each morning too, and I imply, it simply looks like a really protected area,” Stein mentioned. “It’s on campus so, like I mentioned, it doesn’t actually really feel like it might ever be unsafe in any respect.”
The College of Georgia, which has 41,000 college students, largely in Athens, canceled lessons Friday.
Augusta canceled lessons at its Athens campus however mentioned it might stay open as a gathering place for college students, school and workers. Nevertheless, the college’s campus in a strip mall appeared largely abandoned within the afternoon, with an worker saying reporters weren’t being allowed inside.
College students on the College of Georgia had been already shaken after a pupil was discovered lifeless in his dorm room Wednesday and an armed theft passed off within the middle of campus the night time of Feb. 16. College police mentioned Thursday there was no motive to consider these incidents had been related to Riley’s loss of life.
Homicide is comparatively uncommon in Athens with town averaging six per 12 months, about half Georgia’s statewide fee. However Athens-Clarke crime statistics present different kinds of crime with charges above the statewide common, together with aggravated assault, housebreaking, rape and motorized vehicle theft.
An analogous killing in Tennessee in 2022 shocked individuals nationwide. Eliza Fletcher, 34, was kidnapped throughout a pre-dawn run close to the College of Memphis, and her physique was discovered days later. Cleotha Abston has pleaded not responsible to fees together with first-degree homicide and particularly aggravated kidnapping.
Per week later, 1000’s of individuals throughout the nation “completed” Fletcher’s run in occasions honoring the mom of two and kindergarten trainer.
Amy reported from Atlanta.
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