Jose Ibarra, 26, was found guilty of malice and felony murder, along with eight other charges, in the February killing of Riley.

The case over the killing of a Georgia nursing student fueled the national debate over immigration during this year's presidential race.

When Deborah Gonzalez ran to be elected District Attorney of Georgia’s Western Judicial Circuit in 2020, she made no bones about her position on capital punishment.

Wednesday brought the closing of the case into the killing of Laken Riley, a nursing student who was killed on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens at the hands of Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Riley had been going to school at Augusta University School of Nursing’s Athens campus when she was killed.

Politicians and pundits from Georgia and across the country have expressed frustration that Laken Riley's killer, Jose Ibarra, was not sentenced to death.

Outrage grows over MSNBC opinion piece sympathizing Laken Riley’s convicted killer

A state senator demands Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr intervene and demand the death penalty for Laken Riley's murderer Jose Ibarra.