Laken Riley was murdered on February 22, 2024. She was running alone on UGA property in the Intramural Fields running trails near Lake Herrick. The indictment charges Ibarra with malice murder, three counts of felony murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault with intent to commit rape, aggravated battery, interference with a 911 emergency call, tampering with evidence, and Peeping Tom. Felony murder charges are applied when someone kills another during the course of committing a felony and in this case includes the aggravated assault with intent to commit rape and aggravated battery, resulting in 3 counts. Laken was strangled and beaten in the head with a rock.

According to the indictment story in Classic City News, the “Peeping Tom” incident occurred the morning of the murder at University Village which is student housing on UGA property. We did some digging and found this to be true. Here is the UGA Police Log from 2/22/2024.

We looked at how Jose Ibarra may have traveled from his Apartment at 2085 S. Milledge Ave to University Village and found the shortest route down Rogers Road which runs behind his apartment complex and parallels the train tracks adjacent to the Intramural Fields trails. Note, UGA Transit has a bus stop at the end of Rogers Road as well.

How does a person in broad daylight brazenly walk the UGA campus and apparently look for potential victims? 

Regardless of this man’s immigration status, UGA has responsibility and accountability for not doing more with crime prevention:

Was optimal crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) processes followed? No!  Peeping Toms don’t operate in the open but behind obstructions like unkempt bushes, inadequate lighting, etc.

Where’s the camera footage?  Was it immediately looked at (prior to Laken’s murder) to possibly identify a “peeping tom” when a student complained?   Was ACCPD notified of this trespassing incident - to be on the look out for strange behavior? We think probably not. Could he have been caught prior to her murder? We know UGA refuses to routinely patrol inside their 500 yard jurisdiction surrounding UGA properties. Did UGA police patrol within their jurisdiction looking for a “peeping tom” possibly given description by the victim? We do not think ACCPD was on the look out.

Where is the real time response efforts using camera footage for intervention not just investigation?  If the ACCPD real time crime center was up and running (behind schedule due to government bureaucracy) and “if” ACCPD was notified by UGA of this incident, Jose Ibarra might have been identified and possibly arrested. Why has UGA agreed to sharing their cameras with ACCPD RTCC only after a violent murder - for extra eyes and ears to a situation?

Where are safety and outreach ambassadors with extra “eyes and ears” on the ground serving as a presence and deterrence, identifying safety issues with CPTED, and tracking crime trends?

All of the above questions result from safety/security gaps which were identified well before Laken’s murder.  Gaps which are addressed by our petition we sent to UGA President Morehead over two months ago. He has not responded. Very little of UGA’s extra $7.3 million commitment has anything to do with these gaps. And if UGA believes they have addressed issues then please inform the UGA community!

SIGN our PETITION to have UGA do what’s needed. https://www.change.org/p/never-bark-alone-safety-at-uga

2/22/2024 University Village Building S - “concern over the behavior of an unknown individual observed outside her residence”

Note the proximity of the UGA Band practice field next to railroad tracks paralleling Rogers Road. From the reporting, we assume Jose Ibarra had to have been identified as the suspect at University Village. We assume UGA police checked cameras at University Village to identify Jose Ibarra as part of the investigation into Laken’s murder.