For many students, Athens, Georgia, no longer feels like the safe haven they once thought it was, after the killing of Laken Riley.
Just two blocks from the University of Georgia campus, in a downtown courtroom in Athens, Georgia, is on trial for the murder of 22-year-old , a former UGA student who transferred to the nursing program at Augusta University’s Athens campus.Jose IbarraLaken Riley
In late February, during her morning jog on a trail near the University of Georgia’s intramural fields. As the investigation and trial unfolded, members of the Athens community grappled with a shaken sense of security.Riley was attacked
“Just because we’re on campus doesn’t mean, necessarily, that the bad parts of the world can’t get in”, said Allison Mawn, a fourth-year student. “She did everything right. She told friends where she was going, she went on a popular trail during the day. She had her tracking location on. She even managed to call for help, and still it wasn’t enough.”
The case was thrust into the national spotlight when authorities arrested Ibarra, an undocumented Venezuelan immigrant who entered the country two years ago, and charged him with murdering Riley.
