The grief-stricken stepfather of murdered nursing student Laken Riley choked back tears as he read a letter to she wrote to her “future husband” in court on Wednesday after her killer was convicted on all counts Wednesday.
John Phillips emotionally read one of the 22-year-old’s final diary entries during the sentencing of Laken’s killer, illegal immigrant and Tren de Aragua gangster Jose Ibarra, who was later handed down a life sentence without parole.
“To my future husband, as silly as I feel writing this, my old small group leader once recommended it, so here I am,” Phillips began reading. “I want you to know I’m thinking about you.”
He continued: “I’m working every day to become the best wife I can be. I’m working through my current relationships to best prepare me for ours and our kids one day.”
“I’m focusing on God and what he defines as a faithful Christian wife so that I can best embody those characteristics,” the entry continued.
She then noted in the entry she put her “full faith and trust” in God knowing her future husband was handpicked by him.
She also expressed her hope for her and her future husband to raise their family as “God-fearing Christians.”
“I can’t wait to love you in the best way I know how for the rest of our lives,” Phillips read shakily while holding back tears. “I pray you know and feel the importance of our love and hopes for our relationship. No matter what challenges we face, I pray that our trust in God and for one another overrules the obstacle.”
The journal entry concludes with, “May our relationship last forever, Your future wife, Laken.”
Phillips noted he could list off the things that made Laken “such a wonderful person,” but said he felt one of her last journal entries, written on Dec. 17, 2023, “says it best.”
“Laken’s life was abundantly and exceptionally full of promise,” he said as he broke down. “And she was a shining beacon in the life of everyone that knew her.”
A teary Phillips then told the judge, “That, your Honor, was our beautiful Laken. That, your Honor, is just a glimpse of what was tragically and brutally taken from her and us that day.”
Riley was brutally killed on Feb. 22 as she jogged on the University of Georgia campus, not far from Augusta University, where she was pursuing her nursing degree.
Ibarra, 26, attempted to sexually assault Riley but ended up smashing her head with a rock and asphyxiating her as she fought back.
Prosecutors said Riley valiantly “fought for her life” for a staggering 18 minutes, gouging deep scratches into Ibarra’s neck and wrists before the much larger man finally overpowered her.
Those scratches — as well as his DNA later found under her fingernails — wound up being key pieces of evidence that helped convict her killer.
Ibarra was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole.