No real justice for Laken Riley: Letters to the Editor — Nov. 26, 2024

The Issue: The sentencing of illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra to life in prison for the murder of Laken Riley.

Justice was not served in the sentencing of Venezuela gang member Jose Ibarra to life in prison (“Justice & madness,” Nov. 21).

There is no doubt that Laken Riley would be alive today if it were not for the open-border policies of President Biden, Vice President Harris and Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas.

If we had accountability and real justice, all of the above would be on death row for gross negligence for the murder of Ms. Riley. This is not to mention all the other deaths and suffering caused by these irresponsible, nefarious and unconscionable policies.

Jim Millar

Fitzwilliam, NH

Thank God the judge presiding over the trial of Laken Riley’s killer found Jose Ibarra guilty and sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

So now the American taxpayer has the privilege of providing for this scumbag for the rest of his life? Why isn’t he being deported?

Marsha Motzen

Englewood, NJ

The illegal immigrant who callously took the life of Laken Riley will now get three meals a day and live out the rest of his life in a cell.

Laken’s loved ones will never get the opportunity to have their life sentence commuted.

This murderer is part of the reason that President-elect Donald Trump won so decisively. Only Trump has vowed to clean up the Biden-Harris mess that allowed illegal criminals and gangs to terrorize American citizens.

This poor young woman went out for a run and ended up the victim of someone who was “hunting” women and should have never been in the country but was, thanks to Biden and Harris. Jan. 20 can’t come soon enough.

Betsy Flor

Putnam Valley

If I drove illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra to the bank so he could rob it, I should be charged with accessory to a crime.

Yet others flew illegal migrant Jose Ibarra to Atlanta so he could continue his illegal activities. He then raped and beat to death Laken Riley.

These governors and mayors not only deflect any connection to the crime or the criminal, but say they are as pure as the driven snow. They would tell us that their pure woke motives place them above any responsibility should something go bad.

Even the Grinch was capable of growing a heart, but not the woke.

John Dumary Jr.

Duanesburg

What kind of a punishment is life in prison for a vicious killer like Jose Ibarra?

He’ll get three meals a day, exercise equipment, a library and possibly a better life than he had on the outside. And he’ll have no worry about finances.

Sending him back to his own country would make better sense, rather than letting him stay in the United States, which he invaded illegally and which is now stuck caring for him for the rest of his life.

Angela Lennox-Kay

Hackettstown, NJ

I’m furious! I followed the Laken Riley trial on television, and my heart just broke to hear what that poor girl experienced at the hands of Jose Ibarra, while Joe Biden sat at the beach sunning himself.

This poor girl died because of the selfish Biden-Harris administration, which let everyone and anyone in our country unvetted.

Biden should be brought up on criminal charges. He calls himself a practicing Catholic; he is not. Shame on you, Joe Biden.

Ann Mulvey

Westbury

My understanding is that Jose Ibarra received life imprisonment for his heinous murder of Laken Riley because Athens-Clarke District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez did not seek the death penalty because she worried about “collateral” consequences to undocumented defendants (“DA spared him death,” Nov. 21).

I don’t agree, but fair enough. I understand that the death penalty is controversial.

However, I also feel it is only fair that Gonzalez should foot the bill for feeding Ibarra for the rest of his life, as well as all his medical bills.

Peter Bochner

Wayland, Mass.