()— Judge H. Patrick Haggard this Wednesday sentenced José Ibarra to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Laken Riley while he was running in the woods at the University of Georgia.
Haggard determined that Ibarra was guilty of each of the 10 charges he faced at trial.
Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty for Ibarra, who looked down most of the time the judge read the sentence, although he asked for it to be without parole.
Prosecutor Sheila Ross made that request to the judge for the benefit of Lauren Phillips, Laken Riley’s younger sister: “No matter what his sentence is today, and it will be litigated from now until 40 years from now, at least there is one person in this room who will inherit it, and that is Lauren Phillips.”
“He is growing up without his sister. She will have to deal with elderly parents alone. Their children will not have an aunt. She’s an only child, and she shouldn’t have to worry in 30 years, 40 years, if he [Ibarra] He can get parole, if he could get out,” Ross argued. “She should never have to worry about that, and her sentence can ensure that she won’t have to worry about that,” Ross told the judge.
The murder of Laken Riley last February has been a point of national controversy over immigration and crime since the arrest of José Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela.
Ibarra’s immigration status was highlighted by several state and national Republican leaders to support their calls for greater border security, although there is little evidence to indicate a connection between immigration and crime.
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