Female student murdered while out for a run on university campus in the US
Laken Hope Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University in the US, has been murdered while out for a morning run on a university campus.
Riley was found dead on the University of Georgia campus, in Athens, Georgia, on Thursday morning (22 February).
University police received a call from a concerned friend around noon, saying that Riley had gone for a run and hadn’t returned home.
Twenty minutes later, police began searching for Riley, and shortly after, her body was found behind Lake Herrick, near the university’s intramural fields and a frequented campus parking deck.
Her body was found with 'visible injuries' and police have since disclosed that she died from blunt force trauma to the head.
A suspect, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, was charged with Riley's murder on Friday 23 February.
According to the Independent, Athens-Clarke County jail records show that charges against Mr Ibarra included malice murder, felony murder, false imprisonment, kidnapping and other charges.
He was denied bail on Saturday morning during a court appearance, and is currently being held in custody in Georgia.
The police chief at the University of Georgia, Jeff Clark, said Riley’s killing was a 'crime of opportunity' by 'an individual who woke up with bad intentions'. Ibarra is thought to have acted alone, and Clark said the two are not believed to have known each other.
Jose Antonio Ibarra is a Venezuelan illegal migrant, and Riley's murder has intensified the the US immigration debate, with Republicans renewing calls for stricter immigration rules following her death.
Moreover, her murder has, once again, put the spotlight on women's safety while running. In September 2022, Eliza 'Liza' Fletcher, a 34-year-old teacher and mother of two, was abducted and killed while on a run in Memphis, Tennessee.
Earlier that year, Ashling Murphy, an Irish primary school teacher, was murdered while running down the canal near Tullamore in County Offaly.
These are just some of the latest incidences in a string of cases in which women have been murdered while running – each sparking renewed fears from female runners on their safety while running.
Students at the University of Georgia have held a vigil to remember Laken Hope Riley.
Riley was a junior on the dean’s list at the Augusta University College of Nursing, which also has a campus in Athens, and she was previously enrolled at UGA. She was still active with her sorority at UGA and was an avid runner who completed the AthHalf Half Marathon in October.
According to MileSplit, Riley competed in track and cross-country at River Ridge High School in Woodstock, Georgia, where she ran a 5K personal best of 22:03 in 2016.
We recently discussed women's safety on the run on the RW podcast. Listen here.
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