Washington — The House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act on Jan. 7.
It was the first bill to get a vote by the new congress.
The legislation is named in honor of the 22-year-old Georgia college student who was slain by undocumented migrant Jose Ibarra on Feb. 22, 2024.
The 26-year-old from Venezuela was previously arrested for theft. The new law would require undocumented migrants who commit certain nonviolent crimes -- like theft or burglary -- to be detained. Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case, federal authorities said after his arrest.
The Senate will likely take up the bill for the first time on Jan. 10.
But several Democrats would have to vote for the measure to clear the 60 vote threshold required to advance legislation.
Laken Riley is seen running on a University of Georgia trail on Feb. 22, 2024, in a still from footage shown in court on Nov. 19, 2024. (courtesy: courtroom footage)
Riley's case stunned the nation in its brutality.
Last year, her body was found in a wooded area near the University of Georgia trail. She was struck in the head with a rock multiple times and asphyxiated, according to court documents.
In Nov. 2024, Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard found Ibarra guilty of all 10 counts against him: one count of malice murder; three counts of felony murder; and one count each of kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing an emergency call, evidence tampering and being a peeping Tom.
In shocking testimony, Sgt. Sophie Raboud of the University of Georgia Police Department Criminal Investigations Division recounted the last moments of Riley's life, breaking down the minutes into a timeline.
Preparing for the last jog of her life, Riley reaches out to her mother by text at 8:55 a.m. asking if she's free to talk. At 9:03 a.m., Riley calls her mother. Riley then listens to music and is seen on a trail camera at 9:05 a.m. She carries her iPhone in her left hand. At 9:06 a.m., she runs out of view of the camera.
At 9:11 a.m. Riley calls 911 and a dispatcher answers, but no one responded and the call ended.
At 9:24 a.m. an incoming call from her mother isn't answered.
Riley’s mother, Allyson Phillips sobbed in the courtroom at the memory of those last exchanges with her daughter before she called her in a panic, repeatedly.
Data later collected from Riley’s Garmin watch showed her heart was no longer beating at 9:28 a.m. She never replied to her mother's text at 9:30 a.m. and failed to answer her calls. Her mother sent another frantic text at 9:58 a.m.
“You're making me nervous, not answering when you're out running. Are you okay?”
Another text at 11:47 a.m. from Phillips: “Please call me. I'm worried sick about you.”
“This information that you collect from not only the victim's cell phone, but the defendant cell phone and the Garment watch really puts it all together,” said former FBI agent, Scott Eicher. “It was fantastic how the cast agent that testified in this case and the officers that downloaded the Garment information pulled it all together to show the judge that the defendant's phone and the victim's phone were in the same area at the time of her death... at the time her heart stopped beating. It's sad, but it's fantastic when we can get this information together all at once.”
The Laken Riley Act isn't the only new law that was proposed following the young nursing student's death.
After Riley’s killing, Georgia officials signed into law immigration enforcement legislation. The law requires local and state law enforcement officials to verify the immigration status of those older than 18 who have been arrested, those in detention or those who an “officer has probable cause to believe” have committed a crime.
After it passed, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp released the following statement:
Though we are glad that justice has been delivered on behalf of Laken Riley, we continue to mourn her loss with her family and friends and know that she should still be with us today.
The information revealed in this trial was heartbreaking, and we applaud the bravery of Laken’s loved ones for reliving that horrible day to ensure her killer faced the consequences of his senseless actions.
We will not let ourselves forget Laken or stop working to ensure her memory lives on.
This criminal should never have been allowed to enter our country, and he certainly should not have been allowed to stay after shamelessly breaking our laws.
Open border policies failed Laken Riley, and today’s verdict is a reminder that the safety of our communities must remain our number one priority.
While our state has taken considerable actions to address the impact of the border crisis, I will not waver in supporting efforts that secure our border and keep this state and our nation safe.