The trial has begun for Jose Ibarra, the man accused of murdering Laken Riley, a nursing student whose body was found on the University of Georgia campus. Riley's death in February became a rallying cry for some political candidates after it was revealed that Ibarra entered the country illegally.

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.

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