A suspect in the slaying of a Georgia nursing student — and his brother — reportedly entered the country illegally from Venezuela.
CBS News, citing a statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reported Jose Ibarra, 26, was arrested by Customs and Border Protection on Sept. 8, 2022, after he unlawfully entered the United States near El Paso, Texas.
He was released by border officials pending a review of his immigration case, ICE said.
According to the statement, Ibarra was then arrested a little over a year later, on Sept. 14, 2023, by New York Police Department officers — charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than age 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.
The statement did not elaborate on the details of the alleged crimes, CBS reported, adding the NYPD said it has no record of an arrest of Ibarra.
Ibarra was arrested again Friday in connection with the slaying of Laken Hope Riley, 22, after her body was discovered in a wooded area on the Athens campus of the University of Georgia.
ICE has requested to detain Ibarra if and when he's released from criminal custody so it can seek his deportation, CBS reported.
Riley — found after a friend told police she hadn't returned from a morning run — died of blunt force trauma, University of Georgia Police Department Chief Jeffrey Clarke said.
Clark said Ibarra, who was not a student at UGA, is being held on charges that include malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping and hindering a 911 call, CBS reported.
"At this time the investigation suggests that they had no relationship," Clarke said. "He did not know her at all. I think this was a crime of opportunity where he saw an individual and bad things happened."
The University of Georgia said classes were resuming Monday and a vigil was set for Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, NewsNation reported on Monday Ibarra's brother used a fake green card to get a job at the University of Georgia.
Diego Ibarra, 29, presented the phony card to work in a temporary position as a dishwasher on Feb. 6, the university told the outlet — and after he failed to submit further documentation, was fired.
The university said he was never paid.
Local police had approached Diego Ibarra, who lives in Athens, while he walked down the street because he matched the suspect's description. His brother was arrested the same day.
At least 7.3 million people have fled Venezuela in the past decade during political, economic and humanitarian crises, the outlet noted, with most settled in neighboring countries in Latin America, but many coming to the United States in the past three years.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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