Cause of Death Revealed for Nursing Student Found Dead on UGA Campus

A preliminary report says that a nursing student murdered on the University of Georgia campus last week died from blunt force trauma to the head.

The Athens-Clarke County Coroner’s Office and Morgue said it will be several weeks before the official report is released, WANF reported.

Laken Riley, 22, was found dead near Lake Herrick on Thursday after a friend reported that she did not come home from a run. Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, who lived nearby, has been arrested and charged with her death.

Ibarra reportedly entered the United States in 2022 and applied for asylum from his native Venezuela, CrimeOnline reported. After arriving in El Paso, the state of Texas bussed him to New York while the asylum case made its way through the immigration system. He later moved to Georgia, where his brother lived.

He has been charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another person.

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[Featured image: Laken Riley/Facebook]