Judge orders mental health evaluation for Laken Riley’s convicted murderer

By Joe Johnson

The judge who convicted Jose Ibarra of murdering Laken Riley and sentenced him to life in prison without parole has ordered Ibarra to undergo a mental health evaluation.

A finding of incompetency would bolster Ibarra’s bid for a new trial on the ground that he was not of sound mind when forfeiting his right to have a trial by a panel of jurors,

He instead had opted for a bench trial last November in which Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard served as both judge and jury.

After hearing evidence and testimony Haggard ruled that Ibarra was guilty on all counts of the indictment, including malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault with intent to commit rape, aggravated battery, and interference with a 911 emergency call.

Judge H. Patrick Haggard

The indictment asserted that during a sexual assault on a University of Georgia running trail, the illegal Venezuelan immigrant killed Riley by bludgeoning her head with a rock and strangling her.

In a letter dated today, Haggard instructed the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to perform the evaluation of Ibarra’s mental health and report back to him.