Feds charge 20-year-old suspect in California courthouse attack that left five injured

(ATHENS, Ga.) — The last moments before Laken Riley was killed while out on a run on the University of Georgia’s campus were shown in court Tuesday on the third day of the trial involving the murder of the 22-year-old nursing student.

The Augusta University student was found dead in a wooded area on the Athens campus on Feb. 22.

Jose Ibarra, 26, is accused of murdering Riley after prosecutors said she “refused to be his rape victim.” Ibarra, an undocumented migrant, was charged with malice murder and felony murder in connection with her death, which became a rallying cry for immigration reform from many conservatives, including President-elect Donald Trump.

On the morning of the murder, at 8:55 a.m., Riley texted her mother, “Good morning, about to go for a run if you’re free to talk,” according to University of Georgia Police Sgt. Sophie Raboud, one of the lead investigators in the case, who testified on Tuesday about Riley’s cellphone activity.

Riley called her mother at 9:03 a.m., then started listening to music, Raboud said. She was captured on a trail camera at 9:05 a.m. running with her iPhone in her left hand toward the intramural fields, Raboud said. She runs out of view of the camera at 9:06 a.m.

At 9:11 a.m., she called 911, Raboud said. Witnesses previously testified that Riley initiated the call through the SOS application on her phone. The dispatcher was not able to speak with anyone before the call was hung up and called back twice with no answer, the witnesses said.

At 9:24 a.m., Riley received a call from her mother that went unanswered, Raboud said.

At 9:38 a.m., her mother texted, “Call me when you can,” Raboud said.

Raboud said Riley’s mother continued to try to reach Riley but the calls went unanswered, before texting at 9:58 a.m., “You’re making me nervous, not answering when you’re out running. Are you OK?”

Riley received subsequent calls from her mother and sister that went unanswered, Raboud said.

At 11:47 a.m., her mother texted, “Please call me, I’m worried sick about you,” Raboud said.

Subsequent calls, including from her stepfather, also went unanswered, Raboud said.

Trail camera footage from later that morning shown in court captured Laken’s roommates, Lilly Steiner and Sofia Magana, on the trail searching for her.

Riley’s roommates reported her missing, and a University of Georgia police officer found her body at 12:38 p.m., witnesses previously testified. Data from the Garmin watch she was wearing on her run showed her heart stopped at 9:28 a.m., witnesses previously testified.

Riley had sustained significant blunt force trauma to her head, including eight injuries to the left side of her skull and an injury just above her right temple, Dr. Michelle DiMarco, who conducted her autopsy, testified on Tuesday. One of the injuries was significant enough that it caused brain bleeding and could have been fatal, she said.

There was also evidence of asphyxiation, though DiMarco said she was unable to categorize how that occurred. Her cause of death was determined to be the “combined effects of blunt force head trauma and asphyxia,” DiMarco said.

Ibarra was interviewed on Feb. 23 in connection with her death and had multiple scratches observable on his arms, police testified. His DNA was found under Riley’s fingernails, prosecutors said. A man was captured on a trail camera the morning of the murder heading toward the intramural fields shortly before 8 a.m., Raboud said.

Prosecutors said the person was wearing clothes similar to what Ibarra had on in a Snapchat selfie posted earlier that morning, including a black Adidas cap.

Ibarra was also seen discarding a bloodied jacket and disposable gloves near his apartment on Feb. 22 at 9:44 a.m., prosecutors said.

Hairs removed from the jacket were determined to have originated from Riley or “someone with hair possessing the same distinct characteristics,” Anne Kisler-Rao, with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab, testified on Tuesday.

The gloves recovered from a bush near Ibarra’s apartment were determined to have matched ones recovered from a drawer in his apartment, GBI specialist Alexander Covin testified on Tuesday. Under cross by the defense, Covin admitted that the gloves may have matched but could also have come from different sources.

Ibarra has pleaded not guilty. He waived his right to a jury trial and the case is being presented in the Athens-Clarke County courtroom to Judge H. Patrick Haggard, who will render a verdict.

Police have said they believe Ibarra — a migrant from Venezuela who officials said illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 — did not know Riley and that this was a “crime of opportunity.”

ABC News’ Janice McDonald contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — After two weeks of delays, the ambitious Polaris Dawn space mission, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman and in collaboration with SpaceX, launched early Tuesday morning.

The four-person civilian crew launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday at 5:23 a.m. ET in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, according to a social media post by the aerospace company.

Lift off came after one final two-hour delay due to “unfavorable weather at the launch site,” as reported SpaceX.

Isaacman, the CEO of the payment-processing company Shift4, is joined on the mission by former Air Force pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and two SpaceX engineers, Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.

The highly anticipated program faced a series of delays since the originally planned Aug. 26 launch due to unfavorable weather conditions and a ground system issue at the launch site.

Prepping for another possible delay, SpaceX said ahead of the launch that the weather forecast for Tuesday remained uncertain.

“Weather is currently 40% favorable for liftoff, and conditions at the possible splashdown sites for Dragon’s return to Earth remain a watch item,” the company wrote on X Sunday.

Despite the forecast, Issacman remained hopeful about this week’s launch possibility, writing on X, “This is a big improvement over the last two weeks. We are getting closer to getting this mission to orbit.”

The mission was previously delayed due to a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect (QD) umbilical, SpaceX said on Aug. 26. Umbilical systems employ QD fluid connectors to transfer fluids into a vehicle, according to NASA.

If successful, the Polaris Dawn mission is poised to make history by launching four private citizens into ultrahigh orbit, ascending to 870 miles above Earth. This would be the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission since the Apollo program, more than a half century ago.

The program is set to span five days under normal conditions and will see two of the crew members exit the spacecraft in the first commercial spacewalk, at an altitude of 435 miles above Earth.

Due to the absence of an airlock on the SpaceX Dragon capsule, all four crew members will be exposed to the vacuum of space during the ambitious spacewalk.

The spacewalk will also serve as a critical test for SpaceX’s new extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits, an evolution of the intravehicular activity (IVA) suit.

This new design includes a heads-up display, helmet camera, and enhanced joint mobility. It also features thermal insulation, solar protection, and a suspension system that allows the wearer to pressurize the suit, don a harness and execute operations as if they were weightless.

The Dragon spacecraft also has undergone significant modifications, including upgrades to the life support systems to supply more oxygen during spacewalks, according to the Polaris program. Environmental sensing has been improved, and a new nitrogen re-pressurization system has been installed, according to the program.

The Polaris Dawn mission will be Isaacman’s second journey to space. In 2021, he funded his first mission to orbit Earth. The project was billed as a childhood cancer fundraiser, garnering $250 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and marked the first all-civilian mission in Earth orbit.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Attorneys for two former Memphis police officers convicted of obstruction in the beating death of Tyre Nichols filed motions for acquittal on Friday, both arguing that the government failed to prove the charge during the federal trial.

Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and a third former Memphis police officer, Demetrius Haley, were initially charged with four counts in the beating death of Nichols, who ran from officers during a routine January 2023 traffic stop.

Bean, Smith and Haley were found guilty of the charge of obstruction through witness tampering on Oct. 3 when a jury returned mixed results in the federal case.

“There is absolutely no record evidence that supports an individual finding of Mr. Bean guilty of obstruction of justice,” Bean’s attorney John Perry argued in Friday’s motion. Meanwhile, Smith’s attorney Martin Zummach argued in his motion that “the government’s own proof established that Justin Smith had no intentional knowing desire to obstruct justice or withhold information in the reporting process or persuaded, or attempted to persuade, a witness in order to hinder or delay any investigation.”

Asked for further comment, Perry referred ABC News to the motion on Monday, saying that “it speaks for itself.”

“With God’s help, I will do my best to speak through and within the judicial process on behalf of Justin,” Zummach told ABC News via email on Monday.

ABC News reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) but requests for comment were not immediately returned.

All three former officers were also initially charged with three additional counts — violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid. Bean and Smith were found not guilty on those charges.

Meanwhile, Haley was acquitted of depriving Nichols of his civil rights causing death but found guilty on the lesser charge of depriving him of his civil rights resulting in bodily injury. He was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit obstruction.

The former officers did not take the stand in their own defense during the federal trial and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

According to the DOJ, Bean and Smith each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while Haley faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for both the violations of depriving an individual of their civil rights “and for being deliberately indifferent to the known serious medical needs of a person in his custody.” Haley faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for witness tampering charges, the department noted.

A federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on Oct. 7 ordered Haley to be held without bond until sentencing on Jan. 22, 2025, according court documents, but ruled that Bean and Smith were allowed to be on supervised release until the sentencing date.

According to court documents, Haley’s attorney filed a motion on Oct. 10 for Haley’s bond to be reinstated, arguing that the judge “erred in concluding that Mr. Haley was convicted of a crime of violence and subject to mandatory detention,” citing the fact that Haley was “acquitted of violating civil rights resulting in death and convicted of the lesser included offenses of violating civil rights resulting in bodily injury.”

ABC News reached out to the court but requests for comment were not immediately returned.

Body camera footage shows Nichols, 29, fled after police pulled him over on Jan. 7, 2023, for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him.

Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later after tracking him down. After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition. Nichols died in the hospital on Jan. 10, 2023.

Two additional officers – Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. – were also charged in the federal case and testified during the trial for Bean, Smith and Haley after pleading guilty to some of the federal charges.

The five former officers charged in the case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that was disbanded after Nichols’ death. All of the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.

All five former officers are also facing state felony charges, including second-degree murder, in connection with Nichols’ death. Bean, Smith and Haley pleaded not guilty to these charges. They pleaded not guilty to these charges.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.