Southeast
Laken Riley murder: Illegal immigrant suspect in Georgia college student slaying asks to hide certain evidence
FIRST ON FOX – Jose Ibarra, the suspect charged in the February murder of Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley, is asking for a hearing to suppress a list of evidentiary items, including cellphones, a buccal swab and social media accounts.
Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, is accused of attacking and killing Riley, 22, while she was out for a run along dirt trails on the University of Georgia campus in Athens on the morning of Feb. 22.
Specifically, Ibarra is asking to suppress “(a) two cellular devices believed by the State to belong to Defendant and the information contained within them; (b) genetic and physical information taken from the person of Defendant; (c) the contents of Defendant’s social media accounts, which include Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram; and (d) location data obtained from Google, Inc. In support of this motion,” a court document filed on Thursday reads.
Ibarra’s defense is arguing that the aforementioned items were unlawfully collected by law enforcement and that detectives entered his residence without a search warrant. He is asking for the evidence to be suppressed under the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine, which makes certain evidence inadmissible if acquired through illegal measures.
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Jose Ibarra appears in court for a status hearing in the Laken Riley murder case. (WAGA)
Ibarra’s defense further states in court documents filed Thursday that the suspect was “detained without reasonable suspicion that he had committed any offense on February 23, 2024.”
In addition to his request to suppress evidence, Ibarra is also asking to exclude testimony from a witness who performed DNA testing during Riley’s autopsy, alleging that the results “did not exclude Defendant, but also did not exclude another known individual associated with the case.”
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Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, was found dead near a lake on campus on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (Allyson Phillips/Facebook)
“Due to the complexity of the mixture used in testing, the testing was analyzed by using TrueAllele Casework Software. Results of this analysis were reported by [Ashley Hinkle, forensic biologist for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation] on April 3, 2024. Those results gave various probabilities of whether or not the sample in question was more or less likely to be a particular individual or a coincidental match,” court documents state.
A Georgia grand jury in May indicted Ibarra on counts of malice murder, two counts of kidnapping with bodily injury, two counts of aggravated assault with intent to rape, two counts of aggravated battery, obstructing or hindering a person from making a 911 call, tampering with evidence and being a “peeping Tom.”
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Allyson Phillips, Laken Riley’s mother, center, gets emotional while sitting beside Riley’s stepdad John Phillips inside the Athens-Clarke County Superior Courthouse on Friday, May 31, 2024, when Jose Ibarra pleaded not guilty to 10 counts in Riley’s death. (Pool)
The suspect is accused of causing Riley’s death by inflicting blunt-force trauma to her head and “asphyxiating her in a manner unknown to jurors,” the indictment states.
The suspect is also accused of going to a residence on UGA’s campus, where he “peeped through” a window and “spied upon” a university staff member on the same day he allegedly killed Riley, the indictment alleges.
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Jose Ibarra was arrested on Feb. 23 in connection with Laken Riley’s Feb. 22 murder in Athens, Georgia. (Clarke County Sheriff’s Office)
Ibarra and his brothers, also in the United States illegally from Venezuela, lived in an apartment building that sits on the edge of the on-campus park where Riley was running, allegedly murdered the aspiring nurse in what UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark described as a “crime of opportunity.”
The quiet, wooded loop Riley ran that morning is easily accessible from behind Ibarra’s apartment complex. It is a five-minute walk from Ibarra’s door to the approximate scene where Riley was found dead.
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A general view of the area where Laken Riley’s body was found near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Jose Antonio Ibarra has been charged with the murder of Riley. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
The 26-year-old suspect illegally crossed into the United States through El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was released into the U.S. via parole, ICE and DHS sources previously told Fox News. His older brother, Diego Ibarra, is charged with green card fraud and had ties to a known Venezuelan gang in the U.S., according to federal court documents.
UGA said in a February statement following Riley’s death that the school has invested $16 million “over the last eight years to hire more police officers, install more security cameras, enhance lighting, establish a nightly rideshare program, and create a UGASafe app.”
Since February, the school has committed more than $7.3 million to more safety measures, including a 20% increase to UGA’s police budget, emergency blue lights, and a university-focused rideshare program.
Ibarra’s trial is scheduled to take place in November.
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Southeast
Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work
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FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant who reported to a U.S. Border Patrol site in Florida to perform some Information technology contractual work was arrested when authorities were made aware of his citizenship status, officials said.
Angel Camacho, a Venezuelan citizen, reported to a USBP center in Dania Beach, Florida, Jan. 6 to do some IT work when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials began vetting him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital.
During its investigation, it was revealed Camacho was in violation of U.S. immigration laws, authorities said.
Angel Camacho reported to a Florida U.S. Border Patrol center to perform contractual work when he was arrested, a Department of Homeland Security official said. (Getty Images )
“CBP vets all external visitors before allowing them to enter secure facilities to ensure safety and operational integrity,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“During the vetting process, CBP uncovered this individual was a tourist visa overstay in the country for over five years.”
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This photo shows a U.S. Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 15, 2019. (Suzanne CordeiroAFP via Getty Images)
Camacho was arrested and transferred to ICE custody, Bis said.
His criminal history includes theft and resisting a Florida Highway Patrol officer, officials said. Federal authorities have nabbed several illegal immigrants in the process of trying to obtain employment in law enforcement and education.
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One Sierra Leone citizen was recently arrested as he was training to become a Pennsylvania corrections officer.
Another illegal immigrant, Ian Roberts, served as the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest district, Des Moines Public Schools, before he was arrested by ICE.
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A Georgia high school teacher was arrested Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a minor student surfaced at Lee County High School.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).
Lee County High School requested the Leesburg Police Department investigate the allegations on Feb. 3, and the GBI was called to assist the following day.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, Ga., is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators identified Weaver as the “subject,” and identified the victim as a student under 18 years old at Lee County High School, according to officials.
GBI agents continued the investigation along with the Leesburg Police Department, and arrest warrants were obtained for Weaver on Tuesday.
A Google Maps street view photo of Lee County High School in Leesburg, Ga. (Google Maps)
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Weaver turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, and was later released on bond, according to a report from WALB News.
This investigation is active and ongoing, according to the GBI.
The incident allegedly happened at a high school in Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Once complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Leesburg is located in South Georgia, and is about an hour and a half north of Tallahassee, Florida.
Lee County High School’s communications team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Southeast
Federal court clears way for Ten Commandments to be displayed in Louisiana public school classrooms
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A federal appeals court cleared the way Friday for a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, lifting a lower court block and reigniting debate over religion in public education.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit voted 12-6 to lift a block first imposed in 2024, finding it was too early to determine the constitutionality of the law. Critics argue the requirement violates the separation of church and state, while supporters say the Ten Commandments are historical and foundational to U.S. law.
The court said in the majority opinion that it was unclear how schools would display the poster-sized materials, noting that the law allows additional content, like the Mayflower Compact or the Declaration of Independence, to appear alongside the Ten Commandments.
The majority wrote that there were not enough facts to “permit judicial judgment rather than speculation” when evaluating potential First Amendment concerns.
A federal appeals court on Friday lifted a lower court block on Louisiana’s Ten Commandments classroom law, bringing the measure closer to taking effect. (John Bazemore/AP)
In a concurring opinion, Circuit Judge James Ho, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote that the law was constitutional and “consistent with our founding traditions.”
“It is fully consistent with the Constitution, and what’s more, it reinforces our Founders’ firm belief that the children of America should be educated about the religious foundations and traditions of our country,” Ho said, adding that the law “affirms our Nation’s highest and most noble traditions.”
Circuit Judge James L. Dennis, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, wrote in a dissenting opinion that displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms would amount to “exposing children to government‑endorsed religion in a setting of compulsory attendance.”
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A federal appeals court ruling on Feb. 20 allows Louisiana’s Ten Commandments classroom mandate to proceed for now. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
“That is precisely the kind of establishment the Framers anticipated and sought to prevent,” he added.
The ACLU of Louisiana and other groups representing the plaintiffs said they would pursue additional legal challenges to block the law.
“Today’s ruling is extremely disappointing and would unnecessarily force Louisiana’s public school families into a game of constitutional whack-a-mole in every school district,” the groups wrote in a joint-statement. “Longstanding judicial precedent makes clear that our clients need not submit to the very harms they are seeking to prevent before taking legal action to protect their rights.”
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Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry praised the appeals court decision on Feb. 20 allowing the Ten Commandments classroom law to move forward. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, file)
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Friday praised the court’s decision, writing on Facebook, “Common sense is making a comeback!”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill issued a statement following the ruling, saying schools “should follow the law.”
“Don’t kill or steal shouldn’t be controversial. My office has issued clear guidance to our public schools on how to comply with the law, and we have created multiple examples of posters demonstrating how it can be applied constitutionally,” she said.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said schools should follow the Ten Commandments display law after a federal appeals court lifted a lower court block on Feb. 20. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Joseph Davis, an attorney representing Louisiana in the case, celebrated the court’s decision.
“If the ACLU had its way, every trace of religion would be scrubbed from the fabric of our public life,” he said in a statement. “That position is at odds with our nation’s traditions and our Constitution. We’re glad the Fifth Circuit has allowed Louisiana to display the Ten Commandments in its public school classrooms.”
Friday’s ruling came after the full court agreed to reconsider the case, months after a three-judge panel ruled the Louisiana law unconstitutional.
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A similar law in Arkansas faces a federal court challenge, while Texas implemented its own Ten Commandments classroom requirement last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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