Illegal immigrant killer of Laken Riley wins unexpected court victory for mental evaluation

The illegal immigrant killer convicted in the death of Georgia college scholar Laken Riley won a court preeminence Thursday when a judge ruled he should be mentally evaluated after his attorney claimed last year that he wasn't competent to stand trial Jose Ibarra was exposed guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole for the death of Riley a -year-old nursing scholar The judge who issued the sentence Judge Patrick Haggard on Thursday ordered that the Georgia Department of Behavioral Soundness and Developmental Disabilities DBHDD conduct a mental evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial and assist with post-conviction proceedings meaning his appeal event ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT IN JOCELYN NUNGARAY'S MURDER NOW ACCUSED OF PRIOR SEXUAL ASSAULT IN COSTA RICAIn June Ibarra's attorneys declared they believe their client is suffering from congenital deficiency which could render the client incapable of preparing a defense and standing trial the New York Post informed They claimed that he lacks the mental ceiling to understand the nature and object and proceedings and counsel believes that this was in existence at the time of the offense and at the time of the trial The mental competence of Ibarra has been called into question and this court has detected it appropriate for an evaluation to be conducted at the society expense Haggard wrote in his order He ordered the Georgia Department of Corrections to partner with DBHDD for the prompt evaluation at a GDC facility or a hospital ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ISSUED BY BIDEN ADMIN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO MURDER OF GEORGIA GRANDMOTHERIn court documents prosecutor Sheila Ross commented there was no evidence during his trial that suggested Ibarra wasn t mentally competent However she didn t oppose Ibarra getting evaluated and left it up to Haggard to decide the Post shared Ibarra an illegal immigrant from Venezuela attacked and killed Riley as she was jogging along trails near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia campus Prosecutors noted Ibarra saw Riley running along popular trails on UGA's campus just after a m and attacked her dragged her feet into a wooded area and beat her head with a rock repeatedly killing her The situation attracted national attention because of Ibarra's illegal status He entered the United States illegally during the Biden administration through El Paso Texas in September and was issued into the U S via parole He was arrested by the New York Police Department in August and was charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than and a motor conveyance license violation before making his way to Georgia