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The illegal immigrant killer convicted in the death of Georgia college student Laken Riley won a court victory Thursday when a judge ruled he should be mentally evaluated after his attorney claimed last year that he wasn’t competent to stand trial.
Jose Ibarra was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole for the death of Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student.
The judge who issued the sentence, Judge Patrick Haggard, on Thursday ordered that the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) conduct a mental evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial and assist with post-conviction proceedings, meaning his appeal case.
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In June, Ibarra’s attorneys said they believe their client is “suffering from congenital deficiency which could render the client incapable of preparing a defense and standing trial,” the New York Post reported.
They claimed that he “lacks the mental capacity to understand the nature and object and proceedings and counsel believes that this was in existence at the time of the offense and at the time of the trial.”
“The mental competence of [Ibarra] has been called into question, and this court has found it appropriate for an evaluation to be conducted at the public expense,” Haggard wrote in his order. He ordered the Georgia Department of Corrections to partner with DBHDD for the “prompt evaluation” at a GDC facility or a hospital.
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In court documents, prosecutor Sheila Ross said there was no evidence during his trial that suggested Ibarra wasn’t mentally competent. However, she didn’t oppose Ibarra getting evaluated and left it up to Haggard to decide, the Post reported.
Ibarra, 27, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, attacked and killed Riley as she was jogging along trails near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia campus.
Prosecutors said Ibarra saw Riley running along popular trails on UGA’s campus just after 9 a.m. and attacked her, dragged her 64 feet into a wooded area and beat her head with a rock repeatedly, killing her.
The case attracted national attention because of Ibarra’s illegal status. He entered the United States illegally during the Biden administration through El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was released into the U.S. via parole.
He was arrested by the New York Police Department in August 2023 and was “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation” before making his way to Georgia.
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