In the nine months since Laken Riley was killed while jogging at the University of Georgia, her death turned into a lightning rod over crime and illegal immigration and cast an ominous shadow over the college town of Athens.

The trial for Jose Ibarra, the man accused of murdering nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus, began on Friday morning. Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco was in the courtroom as prosecutors and Ibarra’s defense attorneys gave opening statements and started calling witnesses.

The 22-year-old nursing student's death fueled an emotional and politically charged debate over immigration and crime after authorities said the suspect was a man who entered the U.S. illegally.

A man on trial for the murder of Laken Riley was out “hunting for females” on the University of Georgia campus when he came across the 22-year-old on her morning jog and killed her, a court heard on Friday.

The undocumented migrant accused of killing Laken Riley was “hunting for females” when he came across the jogging Georgia nursing student, who “fought for her life” and fired off a 911