CNN This Morning Weekend
February 24, 2024
7:14 a.m. Eastern
AMARA WALKER: All right, now to Georgia where an arrest has been made in the death of a woman who was killed while jogging on the campus of the University of Georgia. Police say 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra murdered Laken Riley in a, quote, "crime of opportunity" committed during broad daylight. Ibarra lived in the area but is not a student, nor is he a U.S. citizen. Twenty-two-year-old Laken Riley was found dead on Thursday near a lake in a wooded area on campus. CNN senior national correspondent Ryan Young is in Athens, Georgia where the community is still in shock.
RYAN YOUNG: Yeah, Victor, and Amara, there are heavy hearts here on the campus of UGA as you understand. People are still in shock about this crime, this murder that happened on campus. It's been such a long time since a violent crime like this has happened on campus, but what we are told by the police chief here is that Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, not a U.S. citizen, someone they believe was from Venezuela, is their prime suspect -- the man whom they arrested for this murder. In fact, listen to the police chief talk about the fact that his investigators and his patrol officers were able to make the arrest and the charges this man faces.
CHIEF JEFFREY CLARK, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA POLICE: He has been charged with the following -- malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another.
Laken Riley, 22, a nursing student from Augusta University College of Nursing. You can understand why so many of her friends and family are so upset by this. We were outside of her sorority. We saw people dropping off flowers, but we also saw a lot of pain because there were several people who clearly were upset. When you think about this, this young lady -- this 22-year-old woman -- was on a running trail that so many people at this university enjoy -- and a course, according to that police chief, they believe this was a crime of opportunity. The two people did not know each other, she was on her run, and they believe this man, as they put into their words, woke up with bad intentions when he decided to attack her. This happened in broad daylight around noontime.
There's also video evidence in this. They have an extensive video system here. Apparently some of that helped with this investigation. They believe this lady was killed by blunt force trauma. Of course it's still early on in this investigation, so as they're working through the pieces of this, we'll learn more information. We're also waiting to see the time when this man will have his first court appearance, but obviously this university has been shaken to its core. Classes have been canceled until Monday, but we'll continue to follow this investigation as detectives work through the weekend doing their search warrant to try to find more evidence. Victor and Amara?