Laken Riley GoFundMe Raises $180,000 for Angel Family in One Week

A GoFundMe fundraiser for the Angel Family of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student murdered allegedly by an illegal alien, will have raised at least $180,000 in a single week.

On Feb. 22, Riley went for a morning jog around the University of Georgia (UGA) campus in Athens, Georgia. When she did not return for hours, her roommate called the police.

Her body was ultimately found brutally disfigured near Lake Herrick on UGA’s campus. The following day, 26-year-old illegal alien Jose Antonio Ibarra from Venezuela was arrested and charged with her murder.

Ibarra had been released into the United States with parole in the fall of 2022 after crossing the southern border, as have millions of people since President Joe Biden took office.

In the first week since Riley’s murder, which has swept national headlines and prompted local, state, and federal lawmakers to call for a crackdown on illegal immigration, a GoFundMe fundraiser set up to support her family will have garnered at least $180,000 in donations.

As of 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, March 1, the fundraiser was just shy of hitting the $180,000 mark by a few hundred dollars.

“Laken Riley was a class of 2025 BSN student at Augusta University Athens campus and an active member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority at UGA,” the GoFundMe reads:

She was a sweet and compassionate soul whose life was sadly cut short on Thursday, February 22nd, 2024. No words can express the pain and heartache that Laken’s family and friends are experiencing. She was a wonderful friend, sister, daughter, etc. who touched the lives of everyone around her. Her infectious smile and contagious laugh lit up every room she entered. Not only did she have a kind-hearted spirit, but she also excelled in academics as she previously made the Augusta University Dean’s list in the Fall of 2023. [Emphasis added]

This GoFundMe is being established to assist the family with funeral expenses, establish a scholarship in her name, raise homicide awareness, or any other opportunity the family could use it for during this difficult time. Thank you so much for your support, please continue to keep Laken’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. [Emphasis added]

On Friday, Riley’s funeral was held in her hometown of Woodstock, Georgia. On Thursday, hundreds of UGA students attended a vigil in Riley’s honor.

Angel Dad John Phillips thanked those who have donated thus far to the GoFundMe fundraiser, calling Riley “an amazing daughter, sister, friend” whose “love for the Lord was exemplified in every aspect of her life.”

“She will be missed every day, but we promise to honor her life moving forward in a very big way,” Phillips wrote. “Every single dollar donated will go towards starting the Laken Hope Riley Foundation and will be used to drive homicide awareness and safety for women. Again, thank you for your kind support and we love you all!”

Angel Mom Tammy Nobles, whose 20-year-old daughter Kayla Hamilton was murdered in 2022 allegedly by an illegal alien MS-13 Gang member who was similarly released into the U.S. interior, told Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham that young American women are in danger as a result of President Joe Biden’s Catch and Release policies at the border.

“I am so sad and so angry that this has happened to another mother, the same as what happened to Kayla,” Nobles said. “Kayla was just sleeping in her bed in her home and she was brutally murdered and raped. And now this young lady was just running. Our young women are not safe.”

“Nobody is doing anything [about the border],” Nobles said. “Nobody is standing up and doing anything. I am trying to do what I can to bring awareness and to keep this from happening and to let government officials know, something has to be done. This cannot keep happening.”

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.