Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan migrant illegally living in the United States, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of killing a University of Georgia nursing student, Laken Riley, in February this year.

According to the prosecutors, Ms Riley was running on the Augusta University College of Nursing on February 22 when Mr Ibarra, who illegally entered the U.S. in 2022, bashed her skull with a rock repeatedly after the victim refused to allow the 26-year-old to rape her.

As a result of the fight Ms Riley put up against Mr Ibarra, he left several pieces of forensic evidence on the crime scene, which was crucial in proving his guilt, the prosecutors said.

Following the conclusion of a four-day trial after the defendant waived his right to a jury hearing, Judge Patrick Haggard of the Athens-Clarke County Superior Court found Ibarra guilty of all 10 counts.

The charges against him included one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, and one count each of kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, hindering an emergency telephone call, tampering with evidence, and being a “peeping Tom.”

With the prosecutors not seeking the death penalty in the case, everyone who gave statements pressed the judge to impose the maximum sentence. Mr Ibarra was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Ms Riley’s murder was a major talking point for the Republican Party and its candidate, Donald Trump, in the days leading up to the U.S. presidential election, with the now president-elect blaming President Joe Biden’s border policies for the death of the victim.