Laken Riley’s phone called 911 during her murder, officials say

ATHENS, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - An open records request unveils new details about the death investigation of a nursing student killed on the University of Georgia campus last month.

Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley’s phone made a call to 911, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department confirmed in its answer to a request for records related to the incident.

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However, the request for the call was declined, pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72 (a) (26.1), which states that investigators can withhold it when a death is captured on the recording.

The request was made to better understand what led to her death -- along with what the response by law enforcement was. The tragedy happened during the nationwide AT&T outage, so we also wanted to make certain that this didn’t hamper Riley’s attempt to call for help.

It is unclear if Riley herself made the phone call, as well as what time the phone call was made.

One of the multiple charges against Jose Ibarra, the 26-year-old accused of killing her, is obstructing or hindering a person making an emergency telephone call.

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On Feb. 22, Riley’s roommate called campus police after Riley did not return from a run at the university’s intramural fields. Less than an hour later, police found Riley’s body behind the nearby Lake Herrick with “visible injuries.” The coroner’s office would later identify the cause of death as blunt force trauma, and Ibarra’s arrest warrants allege he “disfigured” her skull by hitting her with an unknown object.

Alongside hindering an emergency call, Ibarra’s other charges include malice murder, felony murder, concealing the death of another person, kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. He remains in Clarke County Jail with no bond.

In a press conference, UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark said Ibarra didn’t know Riley and it was an alleged “crime of opportunity.”