Gov. Kemp calls President Biden to action following Laken Riley’s death

 Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is calling President Biden to action on the U.S. border, following the death of 22-year-old Laken Riley.

On Saturday, February 24, Governor Brian Kemp posted a letter to “X” addressed to President Joe Biden, calling for his administration to be more transparent with illegal border crossings after the death of an Augusta University nursing student on the University of Georgia campus.

The victim – 22-year-old Laken Hope Riley, a junior at AU’s College of Nursing campus in Athens who was on the dean’s list – was found Thursday in a wooded area on campus.

Authorities on Friday night identified the suspect as Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, who lives in Athens but is not a U.S. citizen. Authorities said he didn’t appear to be a student at UGA.

In Gov. Kemp’s letter, he says, “These tragedies are not unique to Georgia. While we will continue to support Texas with National Guard resources as we have since 2019, federal action to secure the border is the only way to wholistically address this ongoing crisis and ensure Laken Riley’s horrible fate is not replicated across the country.”

Authorities said they didn’t believe the suspect and victim knew each other, classifying it as a “crime of opportunity.”

From a police press conference Friday night, authorities are not sure if Ibarra was here legally in the U.S.

Riley’s cause of death was blunt force trauma, according to law enforcement.