A Georgia judge has approved a court-ordered mental evaluation for José Ibarra, the illegal immigrant from Venezuela convicted in the horrific 2024 murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley.
The ruling — issued by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard — could pave the way for Ibarra’s legal team to seek a retrial or appeal, claiming he was mentally incompetent during the crime or trial.
Convicted Killer Could Get Second Chance
Ibarra, 27, was convicted in November 2024 on multiple charges, including:
He attacked Riley while she was jogging near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia campus — a crime that rocked the nation due to its brutality and the fact that Ibarra had entered the U.S. illegally under Joe Biden’s failed immigration system.
He was sentenced to life without parole, but now his new defense attorneys argue Ibarra suffers from “congenital mental deficiencies” that could invalidate his conviction.
Mental Evaluation Ordered at Public Expense
Despite overwhelming evidence of guilt — including:
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Ibarra’s DNA under Riley’s fingernails
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