Attorney: Illegal immigrant's Laken Riley murder charge could result in life imprisonment.

Philip Holloway, a Georgia-based criminal defense attorney, stated that Jose Ibarra, the suspect accused of murdering Augusta University student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus in February, is "expediting his journey to life in prison" by opting for a bench trial instead of a jury trial.

On the morning of Feb. 22, a 26-year-old man allegedly attacked and murdered a 22-year-old nursing student while she was jogging on highly frequented pedestrian trails on UGA's campus.

On Tuesday, Holloway informed Planet Chronicle Digital that he does not comprehend the strategy behind Ibarra's defense team requesting a bench trial instead of a jury trial, which was agreed upon by state prosecutors and granted by Judge Patrick Haggard. As a result, Ibarra's trial has been rescheduled to begin on Friday, rather than on Monday as originally planned for a jury trial.

"Holloway stated that he is accelerating his path to life without parole by performing this action. "This will undoubtedly expedite the process," he said. "Legally, I am unsure of the reasoning behind the defense's decision to do this.""

Ibarra's decision to choose a bench trial means he is forfeiting his chance to have a juror question his guilt. This means that instead of having the possibility of a single juror challenging the evidence against him and resulting in a mistrial, Ibarra will have his fate decided by a judge.

Ibarra's murder case has "overwhelming evidence of guilt," according to Holloway.

In a bench trial, the criminal defense attorney stated that the evidentiary presentation would be much faster, and both the prosecution and defense may opt to forego opening and closing statements as they are not necessary in a bench trial.

Ibarra and his siblings, who were undocumented immigrants from Venezuela, resided in an apartment complex near the UGA campus where Riley was jogging. According to UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark, Ibarra's murder of the aspiring nurse was a "crime of opportunity."

In May, a Georgia grand jury charged Ibarra with malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing or hindering a person from making a 911 call, tampering with evidence, and being a "peeping Tom."

The peeping Tom charge against the suspect resulted from a February 22 incident where the suspect allegedly visited a UGA campus residence in Athens and observed a university staff member through a window, as stated in the indictment.

Recently, Ibarra attempted to remove the "peeping Tom" charge from his case, but prosecutors contended that the two incidents were "inextricably linked," and Haggard ultimately decided not to separate the charge.

The judge has allowed DNA and cellphone evidence that Ibarra's defense had attempted to exclude.

The suspect, who is 26 years old, will be back in court on Nov. 15 for his trial. Jury selection for his trial was set to start on Wednesday, Nov. 13, but he requested a bench trial instead.

In September 2022, Ibarra entered the United States illegally through El Paso, Texas, and was released via parole. His older brother, Diego Ibarra, is accused of green card fraud and has connections to a known Venezuelan gang in the U.S., Tren de Aragua, according to court documents.

The 2024 presidential election frequently discussed Riley's death in relation to the record illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border over the past four years.

Over the past two years, five women, including Rachel Morin of Maryland, Jocelyn Nungaray of Texas, Lizbeth Medina of Texas, Ruby Garcia of Michigan, and Maria Gonzalez of Texas, were allegedly killed by illegal immigrants.