(NewsNation) — Defense attorneys will call their last witnesses on the fourth day of the trial for Jose Ibarra, the man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley earlier this year.
Jose Ibarra, 26, will not be one of these witnesses. After being read his rights in both English and Spanish, Jose Ibarra chose not to testify on his own behalf.
Diego Ibarra, Jose’s brother, was called to the witness stand on Tuesday, but was rushed off after the court learned his lawyer did not want him to speak because of the fake green card case against him.
It is possible Diego Ibarra will be called back to the stand Wednesday.
On Feb. 22, Riley was reported missing when she didn’t return home from a run. Investigators later discovered her body in a forested area on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. UGA police arrested Jose Ibarra the next day.
Before prosecutors wrapped up their case, attorneys revealed brand new video from the last time 22-year-old Riley was seen alive, showing her running on a trail on the University of Georgia’s campus just minutes before she dialed 911. Another video, which the prosecution said showed Jose Ibarra on the morning Riley died, allegedly showed Ibarra lurking around the trail and trying to break into a young woman’s apartment.
Approximately one hour after this video was taken, prosecutors said, Jose Ibarra and Riley’s cell phones pinged at identical locations near the scene of the crime.
A minute-by-minute timeline of Riley’s final moments was revealed through calls and texts from her phone. At 8:55 a.m. that morning, Riley texted her mother, “Good morning, about to go for a run if you’re free to talk.”
Then, at 9:03 a.m., Riley called her mom, who did not pick up. Riley’s moms soon followed up with a number of calls and texts that her daughter did not answer.
“Please call me, I’m worried sick about you,” one of those texts by Riley’s mother said.
To close their case, the state asked a DNA specialist what she discovered when examining Laken Riley’s fingernails. The DNA specialist said fingernail samples matched a profile of Jose Ibarra’s blood found on a jacket found in a dumpster.
The defense is questioning the prosecution’s timeline by calling other witnesses — like a runner who says he saw someone like Jose Ibarra on the trail — although his timeline does not match up identically to the one that’s been presented by prosecutors.
Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who Customs and Border Patrol sources tell NewsNation has ties to the Tren De Aragua gang, would spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, battery and tampering with evidence charges.
