Laken Riley ‘fought her life’ in a “long” and “fierce” struggle, a court heard – with police bodycam footage from her killer’s arrest showing injuries to his arms- believed to b e defense wounds.

Jose Ibarra, 26, is charged with murder and other crimes in Rileys death in February. He waived his right to a jury trial, meaning Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard is hearing the case and will alone decide on Ibarras guilt or innocence.

Riley was a student at Augusta University College of Nursing, which also has a campus in Athens, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) east of Atlanta – and was killed while out for a run. On Monday a court heard how her deadly encounter with Ibarra was “long” and “fierce”, with smartwatch data allegedly showing a 911 call placed at 9:11am, before he heart stopped at 9:28am.

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Police bodycam footage from Ibarra’s arrest also appeared to show him with a number of unexplained wounds to his arms. Prosecutor Sheila Ross said: In a struggle with (Riley) over her phone Ibarra left behind his left thumbprint on her iPhone, which was found not far from her body at the crime scene.”

It comes after suspected killer Ibarra was apparently fast asleep soon after he allegedly murdered nursing student Laken Riley, 22, who was out running on her college campus in February.

The new evidence comes from the testimony of the suspect’s roommate, Rosebeli Flores-Bello. She said she witnessed Ibarra, along with his brother Diego, knocked out cold around 10 a.m. on February 22the day Riley was reportedly slain on the campus of the University of Georgia.

Flores-Bello said she was leaving for work at the time. “Asleep,” Flores-Bello said through a translator. “When we left to work, they were sleeping in bed.” Riley died around 9:28 a.m. that morning, according to prosecutors who accused Ibarra of bludgeoning the girl before he ultimately choked her to death.

Presiding Judge H. Patrick Haggard mades sure no photos of videos were taken of Flores-Bello as she testified. The suspected killer’s former roommate, who was also shackled in the courtroom, is also undergoing trial for charges in a unrelated case. The witness also confirmed Ibarra was the man seen on video discarding a sweatshirt that allegedly had Riley’s blood on it.

A surveillance camera of an apartment complex captured a man, whose face is not visible, around 9:44 a.m. which is about 15 minutes after the college student’s death. Flores-Bello identified her ex-roommate “by [the] cap and loafers” he was wearing at the time. She added that she’d thought it was strange to see Ibarra randomly toss a sweatshirt into the garbage.

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