Amelia Romine ‘24, Photo Editor
Two tragic deaths occurred on the campus of University of Georgia (UGA) in the month of February. Close friends, family and students are deeply saddened and afraid by the tragic loss as the police continue to search for answers.
On Wednesday, Feb. 5, a freshman at UGA committed suicide in Brumby Hall. There is currently no further information on this student that sadly passed away. The day after, on Feb. 6, Laken Riley, a 22 year old student at the Augusta University College of Nursing of UGA was pronounced dead after the police found her body with visible injuries.
As of Thursday, Feb. 29, Jose Ibarra, a random civilian, was charged with connection to Riley’s death. He is currently being charged with malice murder. Reportedly, Riley had gone out for a run in the early afternoon on Thursday around the intramural fields and never returned . Her roommate then called the police after she got suspicious when Riley failed to return. A search was conducted and her body was found with visible damage to her head and body. The county’s coroner’s office said that “Riley died from blunt force trauma to the head.” Ibarra is also accused of using an object to harm Riley during the incident. Many students from UGA have expressed that they are concerned for their safety; UGA student Chastson Atkins said, “This will definitely make a lot of people very wary of using those trails.” UGA also came out with a statement that said “The past 24 hours have been a traumatic time for our University. Our student body is grieving the sudden death of one of our students in Brumby Hall last night. And as we continue to mourn that tragic loss of life, today’s devastating news will uniquely test the resolve of our campus community, particularly our students.” They also canceled classes for the next day and gave the students the weekend off. Even though this happened the world still goes on, the public is praying for the victims’ families and friends through these tragic times and are disheartened by this act.
Lyon Life 