FILE - This undated image provided by Augusta University shows Laken Hope Riley, a nursing student whose body was found Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga., after not returning from a run. A man accused of killing a nursing student on the campus of the University of Georgia also allegedly "disfigured her skull," according to new arrest affidavits.
that have embroiled Washington in recent weeks amid a surge in illegal crossings and the collapse of a bipartisan Senate deal., where he was processed and released. He had also been arrested in New York City prior to Riley's death, which has sparked criticisms from some of Georgia's leaders and lawmakers.
The murder has also been dragged into election year politics as Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, have blamed President Joe Biden's immigrations policies for Riley's death. Trump said in a post on his social media website that Riley's death "should have NEVER happened" and attacked the Biden administration's "border invasion." Biden and Trump are both reportedly scheduled to make trips to the border this week as immigration continues to move up priority lists for voters heading into November.found dead on Thursday