The trial of Jose Ibarra, the man accused of murdering 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, began Friday with prosecutors presenting a chilling 911 call allegedly linked to the attack. Riley was found dead on the University of Georgia campus in February.

Jose Ibarra, who entered the U.S. illegally​, is charged with murder in the February killing, which helped fan the immigration debate during this year's presidential campaign.

A Venezuelan man "went hunting for females on the University of Georgia’s campus” earlier this year and ended up killing nursing student Laken Riley after a struggle, a prosecutor said Friday. A defense attorney said the evidence is circumstantial and doesn't prove his client is guilty.

The case was swept up in the debate over immigration after investigators said the perpetrator was a migrant from Venezuela who entered the U.S. illegally.

In the nine months since Laken Riley was killed while jogging at the University of Georgia, her death turned into a lightning rod over crime and illegal immigration and cast an ominous shadow over the college town of Athens.

Prosecutors said the suspect, Jose Ibarra, who is linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, was out “hunting for females” on Feb. 22 when he targeted Riley, 22, while she was jogging.

The chilling 911 call that captured Georgia nursing student Laken Riley’s horrifying final moments was played in court Friday – leaving her grieving mother in a flood of tears during the first day of opening statements.

The man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has waived his right to a jury, paving the way for his bench trial, which is expected to begin Friday morning.