The man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley has waived his right to a jury, paving the way for his bench trial, which is expected to begin Friday morning.

A judge on Friday will decide the fate of the man charged with murdering nursing student Laken Riley on the UGA campus.

The case was swept up in the debate over immigration after investigators said the perpetrator was a migrant from Venezuela who entered the U.S. illegally.

In a case that became a flashpoint in the nation’s debate over immigration during the 2024 election, the bench trial for the suspect in the murder of a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus begins Friday.

The defendant, Jose Ibarra, was charged in the killing of Laken Riley, whose body was found on the University of Georgia campus earlier this year.