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.

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.

The suspect accused of killing 22-year-old Laken Riley was "hunting" for women on the University of Georgia's campus the day the nursing student was found brutally murdered on the school grounds, a prosecutor said Friday during opening statements in the bench trial.

A trial is set to get underway for a man accused of killing a Georgia nursing student earlier this year, in a case that fanned the immigration debate in the last election cycle

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.

In a case that became a flashpoint in the nation’s debate over immigration during the 2024 election, the bench trial for the suspect in the murder of a nursing student on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus is underway.