News/Commentary

ALERT: It looks like Laken Riley’s killer is trying to con his way out of prison

July 9, 2025 | | Print Article

Jose Ibarra, the Venezuelan illegal alien who killed Laken Riley, is seemingly trying to con his way out of prison with a mental health diagnosis.

Last November, a judge found Ibarra guilty of murder and sentenced him to life in prison without parole after he waived his right to a jury trial and chose a bench trial instead.

Months later, his attorneys are now trying to roll back the clock by claiming that he was too mentally challenged to understand what he was doing when he opted for a bench trial, not to mention when he committed Riley’s murder.

He’s “suffering from a congenital deficiency which could render the client incapable of preparing a defense and standing trial,” they wrote in a request to the court, according to the New York Post.

He “lacks the mental capacity to understand the nature and object and proceedings and council believes that this was in existence at the time of the offense and at the time of the trial,” they added.

Prosecutor Sheila Ross didn’t buy it.

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“There were no challenges or concerns about Defendant’s competency to stand trial during the pretrial and trial proceedings,” she wrote in her own submission to the court.

“Moreover, there is nothing in the trial record that would suggest that Defendant was not competent during his trial,” she added.

Ross also reportedly dismissed allegations from Ibarra’s lawyers that a “language barrier” had contributed to their client’s confusion by pointing to the “court-certified interpreter who is fluent in both Spanish and English” who’d assisted him.

Unfortunately for Ross, the decision on whether or not to consider Ibarra’s request fell to Judge Patrick Haggard. According to the Post, he ultimately ruled in the murderer’s favor and ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation.

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“The mental competence of [Ibarra] has been called into question, and this court has found it appropriate for an evaluation to be conducted at the public expense,” he wrote in his ruling.

According to Fox News, Judge Haggard specifically ordered the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) to mentally evaluate Ibarra to determine whether his lawyer’s allegations are true or not.

If the DBHDD finds that the allegations are true, Ibarra may find himself blessed with a brand new trial, much to the chagrin of those who want to see him in prison, if not dead.

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Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan illegal alien, was convicted of murdering Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, on Feb. 22, 2024, at the University of Georgia campus in Athens.

Ibarra illegally entered the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2022, crossing the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas, and was released after being processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

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He later moved to New York City, where he stayed in an illegal alien shelter, before relocating to Athens, Georgia, to join his brother Diego in seeking better job opportunities.

Vivek Saxena
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