An Athens-Clarke County judge has sentenced a 26-year-old Venezuelan national to life in prison without the opportunity for parole for the February murder of a nursing student.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, entered the country illegally and, thanks to the federal government, ended up in Athens. In February, he murdered Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student, on the University of Georgia campus in Athens.
Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial. On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard found Ibarra guilty minutes after the testimony wrapped.
Georgia taxpayers will be responsible for keeping Ibarra behind bars.
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, the state paid $23,187 annually in fiscal 2021 to house an inmate in a medium-security facility. Georgia taxpayers could easily pay more than $1 million to incarcerate Ibarra.
However, the exact cost depends on several variables.