Donald Trump mentions murdered UGA student Laken Riley in RNC speech

ATHENS, Ga. - Former President Donald Trump mentioned the murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley during his speech accepting the Republican Party's presidential nomination on Thursday night.

The former president, his year bandaged after the assassination attempt last week at a Pennsylvania rally, painted a dire picture of the state of the country under the current Biden administration and outlined a range of actions he planned to take.

As part of the speech, Trump took aim at the Democratic Party's approach to immigration, claiming that they have allowed the influx of migrants that had led to a crime surge.

Trump named multiple women reportedly killed by immigrants before mentioning Laken Riley, discussing the moment he met her parents, sister, and friends before a rally earlier this year in Georgia.

Describing Riley as a "brilliant 22-year-old nursing student," Trump placed the blame for Riley's death on Biden and the Democrats.

"Yet another American life was stolen by a criminal alien set free by this administration," Trump told the crowd at the RNC. "Tonight, America, this is my vow. I will not let these killers and criminals into our country."

MORE: Diego Ibarra, brother of Laken Riley murder suspect, pleads guilty to fake green card

Trump, who had made immigration a centerpiece of his campaign, has repeatedly vowed to mount the largest deportation in the nation’s history if he wins.

This is not the first time Trump has taken aim at the president over Riley's death. While campaigning in Rome, Georgia, he directly connected the nursing student's murder with Biden's immigration policies.

"What Joe Biden has done on our border is a crime against humanity and the people of this nation for which he will never be forgiven," Trump charged, alleging that Riley "would be alive today if Joe Biden had not willfully and maliciously eviscerated the borders of the United States and set loose thousands and thousands of dangerous criminals into our country."

However the suggestion there has been a spike in violent crime nationally as a result of the influx is not supported by facts. FBI statistics do not separate out crimes by the immigration status of the assailant, nor is there any evidence of a spike in crime perpetrated by migrants, either along the U.S.-Mexico border or in cities seeing the greatest influx of migrants, like New York. In fact, national statistics show violent crime is on the way down.

Studies have found that people living in the country illegally are less likely than native-born Americans to have been arrested for violent, drug and property crimes. A 2020 study published by the National Academy of Sciences found "considerably lower felony arrest rates" among people in the United States illegally than legal immigrants or native-born citizens.

What happened to Laken Riley?

Riley from Cherokee County. She graduated from River Ridge High School. According to her online obituary, Riley "loved nursing and caring for others." She had remained active in the AXO sorority at UGA, where she studied before enrolling in nursing school.

The 22-year-old was brutally murdered during her morning run on Feb. 22. Her body was found by police shortly after she was reported missing by a friend in a wooded area near Lake Herrick and UGA's intramural fields.

According to the warrants, Riley was killed between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Feb. 22. The warrants say Ibarra "physically" prevented Riley from making or completing a 911 call and used an "object" to cause great bodily harm, "disfiguring her skull." The warrants also indicate he dragged her from the intramural fields to a secluded area and concealed her death.

It remains unknown why Riley was killed. 

Riley's family says they plan to establish a foundation in her memory that will focus on issues of homicide awareness and safety for women.

"Laken was an amazing daughter, sister, friend and overall person in general. Her love for the Lord was exemplified in every aspect of her life," her father John Phillips wrote on a GoFundMe created in her honor. "She will be missed every day, but we promise to honor her life moving forward in a very big way."

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Who is Jose Ibarra?

The man accused of killing Laken Riley, Jose Antonio Ibarra, was arrested for illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, amid an unprecedented surge in migration and released to pursue his case in immigration court.

It is unclear if Ibarra, 26, followed those instructions or applied for asylum. Federal officials say he was arrested by New York police in August for child endangerment, and later released. New York officials said they had no record of the arrest.

Ibarra was living in Athens when Riley was killed on the campus of UGA.

He pleaded not guilty to her murder, appearing in court in Clarke County in May.

According to documents obtained by FOX 5, the District Attorney for the Western Judicial Circuit is seeking a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Ibarra was indicted on 10 charges by a grand jury on May 8. Nine of the charges were felonies, including malice murder, three felony murder charges, kidnapping, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, tampering with evidence, and peeping tom. The remaining charge of interfering with a call for emergency help is a misdemeanor.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.