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Laken Riley murder suspect wants certain evidence suppressed with trial date set

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The hearing will take place about two weeks before Ibarra's trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 18 in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia.

Jose Ibarra appears in court for a pre-trial evidence hearing in Athens, Georgia on Friday, November 1, 2024. Ibarra is on trial for the death of University of Georgia student Laken Riley last year. Robin Rayne for Fox News Digital (Robin Rayne for Fox News Digital)

Ibarra, 26, is accused of attacking and killing Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University, while she was out for a run along dirt trails on the University of Georgia's campus in Athens on the morning of Feb. 22.

Jose Ibarra appears in court for a pre-trial evidence hearing in Athens, Georgia on Friday, November 1, 2024. Ibarra is on trial for the death of University of Georgia student Laken Riley last year. Robin Rayne for Fox News Digital (Robin Rayne for Fox News Digital)

In May, a Georgia grand jury indicted Ibarra on counts of malice murder, two counts of kidnapping with bodily injury, two counts of aggravated assault with intent to rape, two counts of aggravated battery, obstructing or hindering a person from making a 911 call, tampering with evidence and being a "peeping Tom."

Laken Riley smiles for a photo while running. Riley, a nursing student in Georgia, was found dead near a lake on the University of Georgia campus Feb. 22, 2024. (Laken Riley/Instagram)

Ibarra tried to have the "peeping Tom" charge removed from his case, but prosecutors argue that the two incidents are "inextricably intertwined."

READ THE ORDER DENYING IBARRA'S MOTION TO SEVER. MOBILE USERS CLICK HERE.

"Count 10 allegedly occurred the same morning as Ms. Riley was murdered, and the alleged crimes occurred within 300 yards of each other. … Defendant's alleged crimes are inextricably intertwined, as he allegedly went to one apartment complex, failed to enter the woman's apartment, and then went to a nearby wooded area where students are often found jogging or exercising," prosecutors wrote in a court document filed Oct. 28.

Jose Ibarra appears in an Athens-Clarke County courtroom on Friday for a motions hearing. (Pool)

The court ultimately ordered the peeping Tom charge not be severed from his case.

Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, an Augusta University nursing student, was found dead near a lake on the University of Georgia campus Feb. 22, 2024.  (Allyson Phillips/Facebook)

The quiet, wooded loop Riley ran that morning is easily accessible from behind Ibarra’s apartment complex. It is a five-minute walk from Ibarra’s door to the approximate location where Riley was found dead.

His older brother, Diego Ibarra, is charged with green card fraud and had ties to a known Venezuelan gang in the U.S. called Tren de Aragua, according to federal court documents.

Illegal immigrants cannot legally own guns in the U.S., according to federal prosecutors. However, Homeland Security Investigations officers found Diego Ibarra posing with multiple handguns on his social media accounts, according to court filings. (Middle District of Georgia)

Riley's death has frequently been mentioned throughout the 2024 presidential election as Republicans and Democrats debate the implications of illegal immigration over the last four years.

Rachel Morin of Maryland, Jocelyn Nungaray of Texas, Lizbeth Medina of Texas, Ruby Garcia of Michigan and Maria Gonzalez of Texas are females allegedly killed by illegal immigrants over the past two years.

Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, was found dead near a lake on the University of Georgia campus Feb. 22. An illegal immigrant has been charged with her murder.  (Laken Riley/Facebook)

"[Harris is] the only candidate who has actually endorsed a bill that would hold down immigration any given year to a certain point and then made sure we gave people a decent place to live, didn't divide people from their children. And we did total vetting before people got in. Now, Trump killed the bill," Clinton said during the campaign stop. 

"You had a case in Georgia not very long ago, didn't you? They made an ad about it. A young woman who had been killed by an immigrant. Yeah, well, if they'd all been properly vetted that probably wouldn't have happened," the former president said.

Republicans have argued that Democratic immigration policies under the Biden-Harris administration led a record 7.2 million illegal immigrants arriving in the country over four years, a number greater than the population of 36 states.