The Venezuelan national charged in the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley could have been deported last year after a bust in the Big Apple — but was freed before an immigration detainer was filed.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, who is now facing murder charges in the death of the 22-year-old coed on Thursday, had been arrested in Queens on Aug. 31 and charged with endangering a child, but immigration officials said he was no longer in NYPD custody by the time they got word of the bust.
“He was released by the NYPD before a detainer could be issued,” a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said in a statement to The Post on Monday. “On Feb. 23, 2024, [Enforcement and Removal Operations] Atlanta encountered Ibarra pursuant to him being arrested by the University of Georgia Police Department and charged with murder and other crimes.”
The agency said a detainer has now been filed against Ibarra in Georgia — albeit tragically too late for Riley.
Police said the bubbly nursing student went for a jog in a wooded area on the University of Georgia campus when she was attacked and killed shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Ibarra was arrested the following day and is currently being held without bail.
The accused killer entered the US illegally in El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 8, 2022, with his wife and her son seeking asylum, and was later released “for further processing,” ICE said.
He wound up in New York City, where he worked in food delivery and at an unnamed restaurant.
On Aug. 31, cops allegedly spotted him riding a scooter in Queens with his 5-year-old stepson on board — with the child not wearing a safety helmet or required child restraints, according to police.
Ibarra was charged with a felony and released.
The migrant then left the five boroughs to join his brother, Diego, in Athens, Georgia, not far from the university campus where Riley was beaten to death last week.
Meanwhile, his brother, Diego Ibarra, who previously worked at the university, was since taken into custody by ICE for falsifying his green card to land the job on campus, authorities said.
Riley, a former nanny who transferred from the University of Georiga to the nearby Augusta University School of Nursing last year, is due to be mourned at funeral services on Friday.
In their first statement since the slaying, her family called her “an amazing daughter.”
“We wish to thank the public for their prayers and thoughts during this tragic time,” the coed’s family said in a statement, according to Fox News Digital.
“Laken was an amazing daughter, sister, friend and overall person in general. Her love for the Lord was exemplified in every aspect of her life. She will be missed every day, but we promise to honor her life moving forward in a very big way,” they said.
