Jose Antonio Ibarra’s Wife Speaks Out After Laken Riley’s Death

The wife of Jose Antonio Ibarra, the man accused of killing Georgia college student Laken Riley, spoke out about the case on Saturday for the first time.

Riley, a 22-year-old student at the Augusta University College of Nursing, was found dead on Thursday near the campus of another school, the University of Georgia in Athens (UGA). She was first reported missing by friends earlier in the day after they said she did not come home after a morning run, prompting police to begin a search. Her body was later found in a wooded area behind Lake Herrick at around 12:38 p.m. local time.

On Friday evening, UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark announced at a press conference that 26-year-old Ibarra, a resident of Athens, Georgia, had been arrested and charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another in connection with Riley’s death. Clark said Friday that the determined cause of death was blunt force trauma.

The police chief added that Ibarra, originally from Venezuela, was not a United States citizen and had no prior history of violence, describing the situation as an “isolated incident” and a “crime of opportunity, [with] no motive.” Three to four other people were taken into custody during the investigation into Riley’s death, but only Ibarra has been charged.

Investigators were led to Ibarra with the help of video evidence and technology, according to police. There is no indication that the suspect knew Riley at the time of the incident.

On Saturday, the New York Post spoke to Ibarra’s wife, 23-year-old Layling Franco, about their background and her reaction to the charges against her husband. According to Franco, the couple crossed the border into the U.S. in September of last year, living for a time in New York City where Ibarra worked for various food delivery app companies.

In November, the couple split and Ibarra moved to Georgia to live with his brother, Diego, who appears to have a past connection with UGA.

Speaking on the allegations now leveled against Ibarra, Franco told the Post that the charges do not reflect the calm man she knew and that she would like the opportunity to speak with him. Despite that, she also said that if the allegations are true, he should “pay for what he did.”

“Yesterday when [Jose] was arrested, my brother-in-law called me early to say he’d been arrested,” Franco said. “We got married so we could join our asylum cases. He was the person I thought I could see through. We’ve known each other our entire lives.”

She added: “He wasn’t aggressive, none of that. We had problems as a couple but our problems weren’t physical. We wouldn’t punch but we’d raise our voices…I want to talk to [Jose]. I have a lot of faith that this wasn’t him, that there was a misunderstanding somewhere. But if he did, he has to pay for what he did, truly.”

Newsweek reached out to the UGA police via email for comment on Sunday morning. Any responses received will be added to this story in a later update.