A judge on Friday will decide the fate of the man charged with murdering nursing student Laken Riley on the UGA campus.

A bench trial is also faster and less expensive than a jury trial. The case has attracted national attention after it was discovered that Ibarra and his brothers, who are from Venezuela, were in the country illegally at the time of Laken Riley's murder.

Jose Ibarra, the suspect in the slaying of Laken Riley, has agreed to a trial before a judge, ending a jury trial scheduled to begin Wednesday.