From USA TODAY.

The morning of Thursday, Feb. 22 was a typical one for a large college town. But a brutal attack sent shockwaves throughout the city and state.

Laken Hope Riley, a former University of Georgia student enrolled in an Athens-based nursing program run by Augusta College, went for a run on that cool and cloudy morning. The outing ended with her violent death on a campus intramural fields complex.

On Friday, the man charged with her murder will have a bench trial before a judge in Clarke County Superior Court. Bench trial verdicts are decided by a judge and not a jury.

Jose Antonio Ibarra, the 26-year-old suspect, requested the bench trial. Jury selection was just a day away when it was announced in court on Tuesday that Ibarra had waived his right to a jury trial and would submit himself the decision of Judge Patrick Haggard.