Month: November 2024

A 26-year-old man was convicted on murder charges and sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday in the murder of Laken Riley, who was killed on Feb. 22 while she was out on a jog on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga.

Jose Ibarra was found guilty of murder in Riley’s killing, in a decision handed down by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard, with the verdict livestreamed on Court TV.  Ibarra was convicted on three counts of felony murder and counts of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape and “peeping Tom.” He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A Venezuelan national, Ibarra entered the country illegally in 2022, immigration officials previously said (per ABC News.). Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial and did not testify in his own defense.

Prosecutors said Ibarra accosted Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, while she was out for a run on the morning of Feb. 22. She was found dead in a forested area off the University of Georgia campus in Athens after her roommates called police when she did not return home.

Riley’s killing drew national attention to the immigration debate after officials announced that Ibarra is a Venezuelan citizen who entered the United States illegally in 2022. Donald Trump, who met with Riley’s parents before a campaign rally in March, said after the sentencing in a post on Truth Social: “JUSTICE FOR LAKEN RILEY! The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes. Although the pain and heartbreak will last forever, hopefully this can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family who fought for Justice, and to ensure that other families don’t have to go through what they have. We love you, Laken, and our hearts will always be with you. It is time to secure our Border, and remove these criminals and thugs from our Country, so nothing like this can happen again!”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a post on X that while “we are glad that justice has been delivered on behalf of Laken Riley, we continue to mourn her loss with her family and friends and know that she should still be with us today. This criminal should never have been allowed to enter our country, and he certainly should not have been allowed to stay after shamelessly breaking our laws.”

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A major storm that swept across the northwestern U.S. has killed two people as it battered the region with strong winds and rain, and caused widespread power outages. The storm system that began on Tuesday is considered a “ bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly (per AP News.)

In Lynnwood, Washington, a woman died Tuesday night when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment; and another woman died Tuesday in Bellevue, Washington, about 20 miles from Lynwood, according to th6e Bellevue Fire Department. More than 100,000 electricity customers in Washington state were reported to be without power Wednesday afternoon on PowerOutage.us. California was also experiencing around 30,000 power outages, according to the tracking site.

The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect. Forecasters said flooding from the storm systems could be life-threatening for parts of the West Coast, and a bomb cyclone warning was also issued for British Columbia in Canada, with forecasters anticipating winds potentially as strong as 120 miles per hour. The advisory Wednesday from the Weather Prediction Center read: “a significant Pacific storm system and strong atmospheric river have already started pummeling the West Coast and Northwest this morning.”  The system was churning some 300 miles off the coast of Washington and pushing destructive winds over northern California, Oregon and Washington at the time of the advisory.

Per CBS News, flood and high wind watches were in effect in Northern California, with up to 8 inches of rain predicted for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, North Coast and Sacramento Valley. A ground delay was issued Wednesday morning for San Francisco International Airport due to wind.

Additionally, up to 16 inches of rain of rain was forecast in southwestern Oregon through Friday, with dangerous flash flooding, rock slides and debris flows possible.

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