The progressive Georgia district attorney who was prosecuting the illegal immigrant killer of nursing student Laken Riley declined to seek the death penalty even after recusing herself from the case — sparking outrage when the defendant was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Athens-Clarke District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez, who appointed a special prosecutor to take over Jose Ibarra's prosecution at the end of February amid criticism over her prosecutorial record, pitched her crime-reducing reforms when she took office in January 2021. .
Gonzalez said her office “will no longer seek the death penalty,” and when considering charging defendants, she “will consider collateral consequences for undocumented defendants,” according to a copy of the district attorney's policies shared by Georgia State Rep. Houston Gaines.
Ibarra, a 26-year-old Tren de Arangua gang member, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole after being found guilty of killing the 22-year-old university student. His sentence angered many Republicans, including Gaines, who felt the killer should get the death penalty.
Gonzalez announced this spring that he would not seek the death penalty against Ibarra, saying: “Our highest duty is to ensure that justice is done and that the victim’s family is an integral part of the deliberative process.”
She also acknowledged that critics would seek to “exploit this case for political gain,” but that legal decisions should “always override political considerations,” according to WRDW.
The decision appears to be in line with what Gonzalez told employees in 2021.
“Cases legally eligible for the death penalty are eligible for life imprisonment without parole, and life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving thirty years,” she wrote.
“These two sentences constitute a very large sentence. Decisions seeking life without parole are a death sentence in prison.”
She also reportedly said the office would take into account “collateral consequences for undocumented defendants” when making charging decisions.
GOP lawmakers were angry that Ibarra would not face the death penalty.
“If ever there was a case where the death penalty was appropriate, this is it,” Gaines tweeted on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, State Senator Colton Moore called on the state Attorney General to intervene.
“I formally call on Attorney General Chris Carr to file an emergency motion to intervene and seek the death penalty for Laken Riley’s killer,” he said on Twitter.
“District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez let her extremist political agenda stand in the way of justice. By refusing to seek the death penalty, Lakin's family, friends and community were denied the full measure of justice they deserve.
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also weighed in.
“Jose Ibarra deserves the death penalty,” she tweeted. “Just as Lakin's mother, Allison, asked the judge, Lakin's (killer) evil deserved exactly what Lakin offered.”
Gonzalez lost her re-election bid this month by 20 percentage points.
