ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - An Athens judge has denied a motion by the man charged in connection to the death of a nursing student at the University of Georgia to suppress certain pieces of evidence in the case.

Jose Ibarra, 26, was charged in the killing of Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley on Feb. 22 in a wooded area behind Lake Herrick on the school’s campus.

Ibarra’s motion claimed two cell phones, social media information, location data and “genetic and physical information” were seized without probable cause.

The University of Georgia Police Department, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, FBI and other law enforcement agencies obtained multiple search warrants in connection with the case, searching 10 electronic devices and collecting “buccal swabs and photographs of marks” from Ibarra, social media information from Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram and location data, the order for denial states.

According to the documents, the evidence “must be suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree.”

Judge H. Patrick Haggard found that the warrants were “valid and properly executed” and that Ibarra had not specified what evidence should be suppressed.

>> READ THE FULL ORDER:

The motion also claimed that Ibarra was “detained without reasonable suspicion” when officers entered his Athens apartment without a warrant the day after Riley was found dead.

Ibarra was arrested after being found during a “protective sweep” of his apartment. Another person had allowed a police officer to enter the apartment to turn off a stove, and the officer performed the protective sweep as he entered. The officer found Ibarra during the sweep.

Judge H. Patrick Haggard found that Ibarra was “lawfully detained and arrested.”

Haggard’s ruling determined the protective sweep was appropriate “in order to be certain no other individuals were in the home and to prevent the possible destruction of evidence.”

FULL COVERAGE:

• Laken Hope Riley: Remembering the student killed on UGA’s campus
• Georgia lawmakers call for end to ‘sanctuary’ policies after death of nursing student
• UGA to install call boxes, make other ‘safety enhancements’ in wake of nursing student’s death
• Preliminary cause of death released after nursing student killed on UGA campus
• Student’s death at University of Georgia marks first on-campus homicide since 1983
• Funeral plans announced for nursing student killed at UGA
• Kemp: Laken Riley’s death ‘avoidable’ with stricter federal immigration policies
• Everything we know about the 2 deaths on the University of Georgia campus
• Petition started to bring back call boxes at UGA after deaths
• UGA students hold vigil to remember slain nursing student
• Murder suspect denied bond, likely did not know nursing student killed at UGA, police say
• Brother of UGA murder suspect briefly worked for university, official says
• UGA murder suspect had prior criminal background, illegally entered US in 2022, ICE says

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