Laken Riley's mother gives Jesus “the glory” to support her family after her daughter's murder
The mother of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student murdered by an illegal immigrant while jogging on campus, has told how she drew strength from her faith in Jesus Christ as her family grapples with the devastating loss of her. daughter to an “avoidable tragedy”.
On Facebook after Earlier this week, Allyson Phillips expressed gratitude for the support she and her family have received following Riley's death.
Last month, authorities discovered the body of the Augusta University student who was murdered while jogging on trails around the University of Georgia campus. Police later determined that she died of blunt force trauma.
“As I sat down to write this message, I really have no words. My family has faced the most devastating, unimaginable loss that anyone could be forced to endure,” Phillips wrote. “I would like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for being with me and my family during this heartbreaking time. I encourage everyone to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I give Him all the glory for getting us through this.”
She added, “It would be really easy to lose our faith in humanity because of this senseless and preventable tragedy. The amount of love, support and help we have received during this horrible nightmare is overwhelming.”
On her Facebook page, the mother also shared an image created of her daughter's name inside a black and white heart with the hashtag: “#SayHerName.”
The suspect arrested in connection with Riley's murder is Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan national who entered the country illegally on September 8, 2022, through El Paso, Texas. Ibarra was reportedly released due to a lack of detention space.
According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ibarra was arrested by New York City police on August 31, 2023, and charged with causing injury to a child and a driving violation. He was released before ICE could request that police hold him for immigration authorities, CBS reported.
The death of the nursing student has drawn attention to President Joe Biden's border policies, which have allowed a historic number of illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. Since Biden took office, police officers on the Southern border have encountered more than 7 million illegal immigrants.
While a briefing last week, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre deferred to law enforcement and ICE when asked about the case. The press secretary expressed her condolences to Riley's family when asked if Biden had visited the young woman's relatives.
“And I – the president – I have nothing to do with the president speaking to the family,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. “But it's heartbreaking. I – I can't even imagine what the family is going through. And so – but anything else specifically, I would have to refer you to ICE and law enforcement.”
A reporter again asked if the president had spoken to the family, to which the press secretary replied that she had nothing to “read.”
In response to the murder of the nursing student, the Republican Governor of Georgia Brian Kemp wrote a a letter to Biden criticizing his administration's border policies. The governor also highlighted Riley's murder, calling it a “devastating tragedy.”
The governor demanded answers about why his administration was not informed of the illegal immigration status of the suspect in Riley's murder. Kemp also questioned why his administration was not informed of the release of an illegal immigrant who had filed “fraudulent asylum claims.”
“These tragedies are not unique to Georgia,” Kemp wrote. “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 fully address this ongoing crisis and ensure that the terrible fate of Laken Riley is not replicated across the country. “
According to Fox News, the brother of the suspect accused of Riley's murder was fired from his job at the University of Georgia cafeteria. UGA spokesman Greg Trevor told the outlet that Diego Ibarra submitted a fake green card to start a temporary job as a dishwasher in the school's dining hall on Feb. 6.
Diego Ibarra did not “submit additional documentation necessary to keep the job and was never paid by the university” before he was “fired,” according to the spokesperson. Diego Ibarra was arrested and charged with green card fraud.
Source: www.christianpost.com