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Speaker 1: Crime a art hourly update Breaking crime News Now. I'm

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Speaker 1: Nicole Parton. Jose Abara, the individual facing charges for the

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Speaker 1: murder of Augusta University student Lake and Riley on the

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Speaker 1: University of Georgia campus in February, is reportedly opting for

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Speaker 1: a bench trial by the judge instead of a jury trial.

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Speaker 1: Fox News was inside the courtroom when this announcement was made.

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Speaker 2: The state was contacted by the defense last week and

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Speaker 2: they let the state know that they wished to waive.

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Speaker 1: The defenise right to a trial by jury and instead

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Speaker 1: this defendant wishes to see a trial by judge only,

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Speaker 1: a bench trial. Ebarra, twenty six, is accused of fatally

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Speaker 1: attacking Riley, a twenty two year old nursing student, while

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Speaker 1: she was jogging on one of UGA's popular pedestrian trails.

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Speaker 1: This on an early morning in February twenty two. Holloway

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Speaker 1: expressed confusion over Ebarra's decision to request a bench trial,

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Speaker 1: which was approved by state prosecutors and granted by Judge

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Speaker 1: Patrick Haggard. Ibarra's trial is now set to commence tomorrow,

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Speaker 1: a change from the previously scheduled jury trial happening on Monday,

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Speaker 1: Holloway remarked, this decision seems to be away for him

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Speaker 1: to fast track himself to a life without parole. It

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Speaker 1: will certainly expedite the process. From a legal standpoint, I

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Speaker 1: can't comprehend the defense's reasoning behind this. He further explained

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Speaker 1: that by selecting a bench trial, Ibarra is forfeiting his

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Speaker 1: last chance to sway a jury into doubting his guilt.

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Speaker 1: Rather than risking a potential mistrial due to a jurors skepticism,

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Speaker 1: ibarro will now present his case directly to a judge

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Speaker 1: who will determine his outcome. Holloway noted that the evidentiary

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Speaker 1: process in a bench trial is typically quicker, and that

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Speaker 1: both sides might skip opening and closing statements which are

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Speaker 1: in a jury trial, as they are not deemed necessary

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Speaker 1: in this setting. Ibarra and his brothers, who are also

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Speaker 1: undocumented immigrants from Venezuela, resided in an apartment near the

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Speaker 1: park where Riley was running. The incident was described by

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Speaker 1: Uga Police Chief Jeffrey Clark as quote a crime of opportunity.

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Speaker 1: In May, a grand jury in Georgia indicted a Barra

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Speaker 1: on multiple charges, including malice murder. To counts of kidnapping

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Speaker 1: resulting in bodily injury, two counts of aggravated assault with

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Speaker 1: intent to commit rape, and several other offenses, including tampering

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Speaker 1: with evidence and being a peeping tom. The peeping tom

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Speaker 1: charge originates from a separate incident on the same day,

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Speaker 1: when Ebarra allegedly looked through a window of a residence

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Speaker 1: on the UGA campus, spying on a university staff member.

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Speaker 1: Ebarra had recently attempted to have his charge dismissed. However,

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Speaker 1: prosecutors contended that both incidents were closely linked, and the

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Speaker 1: judge opted to keep the charges together. Additionally, the judge

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Speaker 1: has allowed DNA and cell phone evidence, which Ibarra's defense

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Speaker 1: team sought to suppress. He is scheduled to return to

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Speaker 1: court tomorrow for the trial, with jury selection initially set

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Speaker 1: for November thirteen. Prior to this request for a bench trial,

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Speaker 1: ibar crossed into the United States illegally through El Paso,

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Speaker 1: Texas in September twenty twenty two, and was subsequently released

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Speaker 1: into the US under Border Patrol Services, as reported by

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Speaker 1: ICE and DHS sources. His older brother, Diego Ebarra, faces

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Speaker 1: charges related to a green card fraud case and is

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Speaker 1: linked to the notorious of Venezuela gang in the United

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Speaker 1: States known as Tranda Arragua. According to federal court documents,

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Speaker 1: both men should have been deported before, but remain in

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Speaker 1: the United States.

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Speaker 3: I'm Drew Nelson. A Las Vegas woman is found dead

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Speaker 3: in a free inside her own home, where the suspect

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Speaker 3: allegedly continued to live with the body until it was discovered.

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Speaker 3: Monique Gilbertson, aged sixty eight, lived for more than twenty

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Speaker 3: years in a mobile home where neighbors knew her well.

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Speaker 3: They noticed her absence after October twenty second. She was

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Speaker 3: usually seen walking her dog every day. Concerned neighbors contacted

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Speaker 3: the mobile home parks management, who requested a welfare check.

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Speaker 3: November sixth, police got there and knocked for forty five minutes,

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Speaker 3: and they finally went in after receiving no response. But

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Speaker 3: inside they found two people, including thirty seven year old

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Speaker 3: Jaslyn Rausch, who had been living with Gilbertson. During the search,

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Speaker 3: they discovered Gilbertson's body inside a locked freezer. Raush admitted

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Speaker 3: putting her there, allegedly telling police quote, I put her

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Speaker 3: in the ice box because I didn't know what to do.

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Speaker 4: I told her many times, don't give these friendly people

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Speaker 4: too much information.

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Speaker 3: Well, she wouldn't listen. But to the good girl, she

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Speaker 3: had good heart. Neighbor Christine Marshall tells KVVU she knew

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Speaker 3: the victim for the whole time she lived there at

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Speaker 3: the trailer park. Court records reveal raus allegedly provided Gilbert's

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Speaker 3: and with the cocaine laced with fentanyl that caused her death,

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Speaker 3: claiming that Gilbertson accidentally overdosed. Police found cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl,

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Speaker 3: a digital scale, and other paraphernalia in the home. Gilbertson

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Speaker 3: had previously accused Rausch of stealing from her and tried

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Speaker 3: to evict her. Despite being locked out, Rausch was still

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Speaker 3: able to gain access to the home. After Gilbertson's death,

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Speaker 3: Rausch gave inconsistent accounts of where she found Gilbertson's body.

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Speaker 3: At first, she claimed Gilbertson was at the dining room

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Speaker 3: table surrounded by drugs, but later she said the body

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Speaker 3: was in a different room. Rausch's wife, Gina Lopez Rausch,

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Speaker 3: initially denied knowing about the freezer, but later admitted she

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Speaker 3: knew the body had been there for four days. She

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Speaker 3: also confessed to helping purchase the laced to drugs. Police

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Speaker 3: believe Rausch quote wilfully, unlawfully, feloniously, and with malice, caused

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Speaker 3: Gilbertson's death. They charged her with second degree murder. Raush

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Speaker 3: pleaded not guilty during a court appearance. Her preliminary hearing

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Speaker 3: is set for November twenty seven. The investigation is ongoing

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Speaker 3: and authorities are still working to confirm Gilbertson's exact cause

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Speaker 3: of death. Marshall, the longtime neighbor, says quote, she probably

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Speaker 3: would have given them anything they wanted. This should never

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Speaker 3: have happened to her.

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Speaker 4: I'm Jennifer Gooold Up Florida mother's determination to protect her

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Speaker 4: daughter from a predator turns into a dramatic showdown and shooting.

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Speaker 4: The incident began when the mom discovered her thirteen year

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Speaker 4: old daughter exchanging inappropriate text messages with an adult male.

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Speaker 4: Taking decisive action, the mom confiscated her daughter's phone and then,

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Speaker 4: posing as the teen, arranged a meeting with the suspect,

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Speaker 4: identified as eighteen year old Sari Rodriguez Banks, at a

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Speaker 4: Popeye's in Jacksonville. Here's Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters talking to

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Speaker 4: the media.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, we'd like for parents let us handle these situations. Listen,

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Speaker 2: it's protective in nature, and moms and dads are going

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Speaker 2: to do what they feel they needs to protect their

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Speaker 2: protect their kids, which we can't really blame them for

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Speaker 2: doing it, but we do ask to allow us to

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Speaker 2: make sure we take care of situations like this.

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Speaker 4: Banks arrived at the restaurant expecting to meet the young girl,

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Speaker 4: but instead encountered the mother, her daughter, and her eleven

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Speaker 4: year old son. The situation took a dangerous turn, though,

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Speaker 4: when Banks allegedly lifted his shirt, revealing a handgun tucked

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Speaker 4: menacingly in his waistband. According to authorities, He then threatened

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Speaker 4: the mother, stating quote, when you hear the shots tonight,

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Speaker 4: you know what's up end quote. Fearing for the safety

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Speaker 4: of her children and herself, the unidentified mom retreated into

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Speaker 4: the Popeyes and immediately contacted the police. Responding officers arrived

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Speaker 4: approximately thirty minutes later to find Banks still lingering outside

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Speaker 4: the restaurant. Knowing the suspect was armed and potentially dangerous,

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Speaker 4: the officer cautiously approached Banks ordering him to turn around

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Speaker 4: and show his hands. The already tense situation escalated, however,

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Speaker 4: when Banks reportedly disobeyed commands and bolted, running around to

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Speaker 4: the back of the Popeyes. The officer then gave chase.

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Speaker 4: As the officer rounded the corner, where he witnessed Banks

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Speaker 4: draw his weapon from his waistband, and, with no time

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Speaker 4: to hesitate, the officer fired multiple shots, striking Banks. Though wounded,

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Speaker 4: Banks continued to run, disappearing behind a nearby business. A

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Speaker 4: K nine unit was deployed to track the suspect down,

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Speaker 4: eventually locating him hiding in a drainage tunnel. Medical personnel

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Speaker 4: were called to the scene to treat Banks for superficial

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Speaker 4: gunshot wounds. He was then taken to the hospital for

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Speaker 4: further treatment. Banks faces a multitude of charges, including aggravated

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Speaker 4: assault with a deadly weapon, lude and lascivious conduct with

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Speaker 4: a minor, unlawful use of a communication device, and traveling

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Speaker 4: to meet a minor after online solicitation. He is currently

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Speaker 4: being held on a seven hundred thousand dollars bond. The

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Speaker 4: officer on the scene was not hurt. For the latest

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Speaker 4: Crime and Justice News follow the Crime Alert hourly update

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Speaker 4: on your favorite podcast app with this crime alert. I'm

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Speaker 4: Jennifer Gould.