A bench trial for Jose Ibarra, the defendant facing murder charges in the killing of nursing student Laken Riley, is expected to begin Friday. The proceedings are set to start at 9 a.m. before Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard. Riley, an Augusta University nursing student, was found dead on Feb. 22 near running trails on the University of Georgia's campus after a friend told police she had not returned from a morning run. Ibarra was arrested the next day in the case. Riley's death gained national attention as the case became a flashpoint for the debate around immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border. Ibarra was previously arrested and released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2022 before being sent to New York. He was arrested again in New York in 2023 for child endangerment when he allegedly had a child on his moped without a helmet. MORE: https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/trials/trial-athens-georgia-laken-riley-case-defendant-jose-ibarra-murder-charges/85-7816c7d5-8d5e-46fe-ac1a-7e40709f7b5f