Laken Riley’s sobbing mother asks judge to show ‘no mercy’ to ‘sick, twisted, evil coward’ in victim impact statement

ATHENS, Ga. — The mother of murdered nursing student Laken Riley delivered a powerful victim impact statement before killer Jose Ibarra was sentenced to live without parole — calling gang member Tren de Aragua a “sick coward , twisted and evil.

“Jose Ibarra had no mercy for my scared, panicked, struggling child,” Laken’s mother, Allyson Phillips, 22, told Judge Patrick Haggard in an Athens, Ga., courtroom Wednesday , while Ibarra listened speechlessly.

“She fought to live with dignity and to avoid being brutally raped. This sick, twisted, evil coward showed no respect for Laken and human life. We ask that the same thing be done to him,” says the mother, sometimes raising her voice.

“There is no end to the pain, suffering and loss. On that horrible day, my precious daughter was attacked, beaten and showed no mercy,” she said, recalling Laken as a “kind and caring child of God” and her “best friend.”

During a hearing that lasted just over two hours, the judge responded to the grieving mother’s demands, finding the illegal immigrant guilty of all charges and giving him two life sentences plus 27 years, each to be served consecutively.

Laken’s father, Jason Riley, also spoke out, calling the pain Ibarra causes him every day “inexplicable.”

“I will never hold his hand or feel his embrace,” he said. “Our world has been torn apart. I am haunted by the fear she felt in those final moments. I hope justice is served for her.

Riley was brutally killed Feb. 22 while jogging on the University of Georgia campus, not far from Augusta University, where the highly regarded student was pursuing her nursing degree.

Ibarra, 26, attempted to sexually assault the student, but ended up smashing her head with a rock and asphyxiating her when she fiercely fought back.

Prosecutors said Riley “valiantly fought for her life” for a staggering 18 minutes, clawing deeply at Ibarra’s neck and wrists before the much larger man finally overpowered her.

Those scratches — along with her DNA later found under her fingernails — ended up being key pieces of evidence that helped convict her killer.

Ibarra’s trial lasted only four days, with 29 witnesses called by the prosecution.

The defense called only three witnesses before resting its case Wednesday morning. Ibarra and his brother – another gang member, Diego, on whom they tried to pin the murder – did not testify.

Prosecutor Sheila Ross recounted the facts of the case for about 45 minutes in her closing argument, calling the evidence against Ibarra “overwhelming.”

Haggard returned to the bench just 19 minutes after the parties presented closing arguments to deliver the verdict.

Sobs filled the gallery and Riley’s family held hands as Haggard read the guilty verdicts on felony murder, malicious murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape and peeping tom charges.

Riley’s brutal death at the hands of an illegal immigrant drew national attention, coming as the United States is in the grip of a full-blown migration crisis, in which some 12 million people have crossed the border under the leadership of the Biden-Harris administration.

Ibarra ended up in Athens on a taxpayer-funded, administration-provided flight, traveling from Kennedy Airport in Queens to Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2023, New York sources said.

The flight — which took place less than six months before he stalked Riley while she was jogging — was financed with federal funds as part of a Biden administration program that included outbound flights simple for migrants to anywhere in the world.