Laken Riley murder, two weeks later: bond hearing for Ibarra brother, bill introduced in US House

Diego Ibarra is due to make a second appearance in federal court in Macon, this time for a bond hearing: the brother of accused Laken Riley killer Jose Ibarra was arrested last month in Athens, charged with having a fake green card. He and Jose Ibarra are Venezuelans accused of being in the US illegally. Jose Ibarra is in the Athens-Clarke County jail, being held without bond after his arrest for the February 22 murder of the 22 year-old Riley, a nursing student who was beaten and killed on the campus of the University of Georgia.

The family of Laken Riley has declined an invitation from 10th District Congressman Mike Collins to attend tonight’s State of the Union Speech. Republican Collins extended the invitation to Riley’s parents.

The Laken Riley Act introduced by Congressman Collins could see action in the House today. The Collins bill, filed in the aftermath of the Riley murder, would expand the authority of ICE to hold detainees suspected of being in the US illegally.

From WSB TV…

A new motion requesting the detention of the brother of a man accused of murdering a 22-year-old nursing student on the University of Georgia campus reveals new details about the case.

Laken Riley was beaten to death as she ran a trail on the UGA campus on Feb. 22. Venezuelan national Jose Ibarra was arrested the next day and charged with her murder.

His brother, Diego Ibarra, was also detained after police determined he showed them a fake green card.

On Thursday, Diego Ibarra is set for a probable cause and detention hearing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will also present the government’s motion to detain him at 10 a.m. in Macon.

New court documents reveal that after Riley’s death, officers circulated photos of a man in a distinctive baseball cap they considered a suspect. The cap had an Adidas logo on it.

The day after Riley’s killing, they spotted a man wearing an identical hat in the parking lot of the Argo apartments. That man identified himself as Diego Ibarra. When officers asked him for identification, he produced a fake green card and was taken into custody, according to court documents.

The motion then goes on to list a string of run-ins with U.S. law enforcement from the time Diego Ibarra first tried to enter the country in April 2023 to the months before the murder that he spent in Athens.

Diego Ibarra was arrested three times, once on DUI charges and two more times on shoplifting charges, but was released each time. His brother, Jose Ibarra, was with him on one of the two occasions Diego Ibarra is accused of shoplifting from the same Athens Walmart.

Prosecutors then detail all the signs that seem to suggest that Diego Ibarra is a member of a Venezuelan prison gang called Tren de Arugua.

Gang members typically have distinctive tattoos including weapons, stars, clocks, trains, five-pointed crowns and dollar signs.

Photos taken of Diego Ibarra on Feb. 23 show that he has tattoos of a five-pointed crown, five-pointed stars and a teardrop under his eye, which is also known to be gang-affiliated.

Members of Tren de Arugua also have distinctive hand gestures and wear Chicago Bulls gear, both of which Diego Ibarra displayed on social media before the murder. He also brandished guns, which he was not allowed to possess as a non-citizen.

“Based upon the foregoing facts, the Government respectfully requests that Ibarra be detained due to the risk that he will flee the jurisdiction of the Court and the danger that he poses to the safety of persons and the community,” prosecutors wrote.

It’s unclear if authorities believe Jose Ibarra was a member of the same gang.

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