Laken Riley murder suspect went 'hunting' for women: 5 facts revealed so far from Jose Ibarra's trial
911 calls
During Friday's hearing, prosecutors played a recording of the 911 call Lilly Steiner and several others made to police after Riley failed to return home. Steiner, who testified in court, said their household wasn't just a group of roommates but more like a “little family.”
"We did everything together; we had family dinners, family TV nights and movie nights. Laken brought a sense of joy to our lives that has been missing ever since,” Riley’s former roommate said.
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As Newsweek reported Friday, Steiner and her roommates feared for Riley’s safety when they couldn’t reach her. Dispatchers instructed the girls to meet officers at Riley’s last known location.
The court also heard the recording of another 911 call made to police around 9 a.m., but the voice on the other end of the call was difficult to hear.
"Can anyone hear me?" a dispatcher is heard asking on the recording, but there is only the sound of birds chirping on the other end of the line.
In addition to the 911 calls, the court saw body camera footage from the responding officer who discovered the murdered nursing student. Before anyone saw the video, Judge Haggard allowed anyone who did not want to see Riley’s body to step out of the courtroom.
The footage, played during the testimony of Sgt. Kenneth Maxwell of the University of Georgia Police Department, shows the officer finding Riley’s body during a search for the then-missing woman. It took 21 minutes to locate the body, according to Maxwell, who testified that the 22-year-old girl was half-naked when he found her.
“It looked more intentional, as if somebody had attempted to either remove her top, or maybe had used it to drag her,” Maxwell said, who appeared to swallow hard as the body camera footage was played before the court.
Others present in court as the video played began to cry, according to CNN, while others covered their faces or looked away.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
