Opening statements are expected Friday in the trial of the man accused of killing a Georgia nursing student, in a case that helped fan the immigration debate during the last election cycle. Jose Ibarra is charged with murder and other crimes in the February killing of Laken Hope Riley,

A judge on Friday will decide the fate of the man charged with murdering nursing student Laken Riley on the UGA campus.

A man on Tuesday waived his right to a jury trial in the killing of a Georgia nursing student, a case that became a flashpoint in the national immigration debate. Jose Ibarra was charged in the February killing of Laken Hope Riley,

The judge who will decide the fate of an undocumented migrant accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley is a no-nonsense, silvery-white-haired jurist whose father was killed in an armed robbery.

The defendant, Jose Ibarra, was charged in the killing of Laken Riley, whose body was found on the University of Georgia campus earlier this year.