Author of Laken Riley bill renews calls for Senate passage ahead of trial

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - With jury selection beginning this week in the trial of the man accused of Laken Riley’s murder, the U.S. senator who authored a bill in her name is renewing calls for its passage.

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama) introduced the Laken Riley Act back in March after the body of the former University of Georgia student was found on the Athens, Georgia, campus.

Jose Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant who federal officials confirmed is in the U.S. illegally, is charged in connection with Riley’s murder. Jury selection begins Wednesday, and the issue of illegal immigration was a key focus in president-elect Donald Trump’s successful quest to reclaim the White House.

“As America watches this trial unfold, I am once again calling on Senate Democrats to pass the bipartisan Laken Riley Act,” Britt said last week after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to become the 47th president. “Laken’s death was preventable, but President Biden and Vice President Harris chose mass migration over the safety and security of the American people.

“Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have enabled their dangerous open-border policies and blocked our efforts to pass the Laken Riley Act,” Britt said. “There is no responsibility more important than keeping the American people safe, and I remain committed to passing this bill named in Laken’s honor to ensure more families are spared this type of unthinkable tragedy.”

Republicans are projected to reclaim a Senate majority when the new Congress convenes in January.

Britt and U.S. Sen. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) introduced S.3933, the Senate companion to U.S. Rep. Mike Collins’ (R-Ga.) Laken Riley Act that passed the House by a vote of 251-170.

The legislation would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest illegal immigrants who commit theft, burglary, larceny, or shoplifting offenses and would mandate they are detained until they are removed from the United States. It would also allow states to bring civil actions against federal officials who refuse to enforce immigration law or who violate the law.

Ibarra, 26, faces charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another in connection to the death of 22-year-old Riley.

His arrest warrants accuse him of “disfiguring” Riley’s skull by hitting her with an unidentified object. He also allegedly dragged her body to a “secluded area” to hide the death, according to the warrants.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed Ibarra “was paroled due to detention capacity at the Central Processing Center in El Paso, TX,” and ICE officials have said Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally.

Riley’s death became a rallying point for Republicans seeking tighter border security during the recently concluded presidential election.

Immigration emerged as a major campaign issue, dividing the nation and straining resources in New York, Chicago, Boston and other cities after migrants settled there, and in communities across the country after crossing the nation’s southern border.

Riley grew up in Atlanta’s northern suburbs, graduated from River Ridge High School in Cherokee County where she ran on the cross-country team, and then attended the University of Georgia in Athens. She later transferred to Augusta University’s nursing college, attending classes on its Athens campus not far from the sprawling UGA campus. She remained active in the sorority she had joined at UGA.

Riley was attacked near running trails on the UGA campus. Police found her body after a friend told police she had not returned from her morning run, authorities said.

She died of blunt force trauma in the attack, and there was no connection between her and the man accused of killing her before the crime, University of Georgia Police Chief Jeff Clark said, adding the incident “was a crime of opportunity where he saw an individual and bad things happened.”

Hours after Riley was slain, Athens homicide detectives pulled a photo from a surveillance camera of a potential suspect who wore a distinctive Adidas hat, according to a federal affidavit obtained by The Associated Press.

That eventually led them to an off-campus apartment complex where they searched the grounds and a dumpster nearby and began to piece together details about Ibarra, a Venezuelan citizen.

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