The family of slain nursing student Laken Riley can be seen getting overwhelmed with grief as they learned of her death in a heartbreaking police body cam video played before the sentencing of her killer, Jose Ibarra, Wednesday.
The clip starts with the family’s black pickup truck haphazardly pulled over to the side of the road as they approach a group of police officers.
“It’s my daughter,” repeats her mom, Allyson Phillips, as she breaks down in tears before collapsing on the side of the road, overcome with grief.
Her stepfather John Phillips and sister Lauren, who were in the truck with Allyson, also start sobbing, and begin frantically pacing around the area, clearly unable to process what was happening.
Lauren crouches down near her mother, who can barely contain herself.
As Allyson starts to hyperventilate, and grasps the bicep of a nearby officer, barely choking out a plaintive “is she alive?”
HARD TO WATCH: Bodycam footage played in court shows the moment police told Laken Riley’s family her body was found pic.twitter.com/ZbBqJdI1Kc
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 20, 2024
When the officer tells her he’s not able to tell her, she falls back onto the grasp, grabbing her face with both hands before rolling on her side completely limp, knowing in her heart that her world has been shattered.
“That’s what they endured, and that’s how it was on that day when they came here to look for their daughter,” prosecutor Sheila Ross said after showing the heartbreaking, 60-second clip, which the family bawled in the courtroom as they watched.
After viewing the clip and hearing vicim impact statements from several of Riley’s friends and family, Judge Patrick Haggard handed Ibarra life in prison without parole for the brutal 2024 killing.
