Mental health evaluation ordered for Venezuelan man convicted of killing Laken Riley

ATLANTA (Atlanta News First/Gray News) - The Venezuelan man convicted of killing a former University of Georgia student and whose trial set off a national immigration debate during a presidential election year has been ordered to undergo a mental health examination.

Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge Patrick Haggard, who oversaw Jose Ibarra’s bench trial and sentenced him to life in prison, has ordered the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to conduct the exam using a certified Spanish interpreter.

This past November, Ibarra was found guilty in the February 2024 murder of Laken Riley, whose body was found on the University of Georgia campus after she went missing following a morning run.

Riley was a nursing student at Augusta University at the time of her death.

Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on one count of malice murder, life in prison without the possibility of parole on one kidnapping charge, 20 years on one count of aggravated assault, 12 months in a county jail on one count of hindering an emergency telephone call, 12 months in a county jail on one count of tampering with evidence and five years in prison on one count of Peeping Tom.

The Venezuelan immigrant who entered the United States illegally had waived his right to a jury trial, meaning Haggard heard and decided the case.

Haggard’s order, filed July 3, in the Superior Court of Athens-Clarke County, instructs the department to determine if Ibarra was “capable of understanding the nature and object of pretrial proceedings, including waiver of jury trial rights.”

Less than a month after their client’s conviction, Ibarra’s attorneys filed a motion for a new trial. In their motion, Ibarra’s legal counsel said the verdict was “contrary to law” and “contrary to evidence.”