New media reports say that the man charged with the murder of a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia was in the United States illegally.

Laken Riley was found dead Thursday not far from her University of Georgia campus apartment after her friends began a search for her because she had not returned from jogging.

According to Fox News, Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.

Ibarra faces charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another in connection with Riley’s death.

Sources at the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement that Fox News did not name said Ibarra crossed into El Paso, Texas, illegally in September 2022.

Fox said its sources told the network Ibarra was released into the country on parole.

A report from NewsNation that also cited sources it did not name said Ibarra was freed because of a lack of detention space.

Officials have said the suspect did not know the victim prior to the victim’s death.

NBC has reported that more than 182,700 illegal immigrants were encountered along the southern border in September 2022.

According to the New York Post, Ibarra’s older brother, Diego Ibarra, 29, has been charged with being in possession of a phony green card.

Police had interviewed Diego Ibarra in connection with Riley’s murder when they learned about the phony document according to the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.

“Diego Ibarra presented a fake green card to the hiring unit to begin a temporary position as a dishwasher in Bolton Dining Hall at the University of Georgia on Feb. 6, 2024,” University of Georgia representative Greg Trevor said.

“He subsequently failed to submit further documentation required to keep the job and was never paid by the University. He has been fired,” Trevor said.

Diego Ibarra is now in jail.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.