Laken Riley murder: Illegal immigrant suspect’s trial begins after legal move [Video]

WARNING: GRAPHIC

ATHENS, Ga. – Jose Ibarra, the suspect charged in Augusta University student Laken Riley’s February murder on the University of Georgia campus, appeared in court Friday for the start of his trial.

Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, allegedly attacked and killed Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, while she was jogging along trails near Lake Herrick on UGA’s campus the morning of Feb. 22.

Two security guards escorted Ibarra into the Athens-Clarke County courtroom around 7:30 a.m. Friday, about an hour and a half before the start of the trial at 9 a.m., wearing a blue plaid shirt and gray dress pants with shackles around his wrists.

Just before the start of the trial, approximately 20 members of Riley’s family entered the courtroom wearing solemn expressions.

WATCH: Hear Laken Riley’s 911 phone call played in courtroom