Venezuelan citizen Jose Ibarra is accused of murder Augusta University student Laken Riley opted for a trial by judge rather than a jury on the University of Georgia campus in February.

Ibarra, 26, is accused of attacking and killing 22-year-old nursing student Riley while she was jogging. Frequent pedestrian paths on the UGA campus On the morning of February 22.

On Tuesday, when his defense team and state prosecutors asked Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge Patrick Haggard for a bench trial instead of a jury trial, he appeared in court and Haggard agreed. The trial will start on Friday.

“This defendant wants to be tried by a judge only – a bench trial,” state prosecutor Sheila Ross said in court. “When I was informed of this, the parties waived his right to a trial by jury, and the state agreed to a bench trial as long as the trial remained before his Honor and no senior judge was brought in. I believe we will begin the trial very shortly, so that will happen I am thinking.”

LAKEN RILEY MURDER ACCUSED WANTS SPECIFIED EVIDENCE TO BE SHOWED WITH THE SPECIFIED TRIAL DATE

Defense attorneys Kaitlyn Beck shuffles through papers in a binder as Jose Ibarra, center, accused of killing nursing student Laken Hope Riley, appears in court for a motion hearing on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, Pool, File)

Riley’s family sat in the front row in court Tuesday. His mother, Allyson Phillips, cried briefly when Ibarra entered the courtroom at the beginning of the hearing.

Ibarra and his siblings, who were also in the United States illegally from Venezuela, lived in an apartment building on the edge of the on-campus park where Riley ran. Ibarra allegedly killed the aspiring nurse in what UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark described as a “crime of opportunity.”

In May, a Georgia grand jury convicted Ibarra of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of kidnapping with bodily injury, two counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit rape, two counts of aggravated battery, hindering or obstructing a person from calling 911, tampering with evidence and being a “peeping Tom.” .

Jose Ibarra appeared in court for a pretrial evidentiary hearing on Friday, November 1, 2024, in Athens, Georgia. Ibarra is charged with the death of University of Georgia student Laken Riley. (Robin Rayne for Fox News Digital)

Tom’s surveillance charge stems from another incident on February 22nd where the suspect allegedly went somewhere. Accommodation on UGA’s campus in AthensThe indictment alleges that he “peeped in” through a window and “spy” on a university staff member.

Ibarra recently tried to: “peeping Tom” accusation was removed from the case, but prosecutors argued the two incidents were “inextricably intertwined” and Haggard ultimately decided not to pursue the charge.

LAKEN RILEY MURDER: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT IN GEORGIA COLLEGE STUDENT MASSACRE, WANTS CERTAIN EVIDENCE WITHDRAWAL

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

The judge also allows DNA and cell phone evidence that Ibarra’s defense wants to suppress.

The 26-year-old suspect is expected to appear in court again on November 15 for his hearing. Jury selection for his trial was scheduled to begin Wednesday, Nov. 13, before he requested a hearing.

Jose Ibarra was arrested on February 23 in connection with the murder of Laken Riley on February 22 in Athens, Georgia. (Clarke County Sheriff’s Office)

Ibarra crossed into the United States illegally El Paso, Texas, He was released to the United States on parole in September 2022, ICE and DHS sources previously told Fox News.

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

A general view of the area where Laken Riley’s body was found near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, February 24, 2024. Jose Antonio Ibarra was charged with Riley’s murder. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)

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Riley’s death has been mentioned frequently throughout the 2024 presidential election as Republicans and Democrats debate the consequences of record illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border over the past four years.

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

Fox News’ Chelsea Torres and Lauren Sennet contributed to this report.