In the nine months since Laken Riley was killed while jogging at the University of Georgia, her death turned into a lightning rod over crime and illegal immigration and cast an ominous shadow over the college town of Athens.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Testimony resumed Monday in the trial of the man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley with police officers describing searching the man’s apartment and questioning him and others who lived there.

Jose Ibarra, who entered the U.S. illegally, is charged with murder in the February killing, which helped fan the immigration debate during this year's presidential campaign. Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial, meaning his case is being heard and decided by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard.

The slaying of the Georgia nursing student has been a focal point in the national discussion about immigration, a major presidential campaign issue.

In other testimony, law enforcement witnesses placed the suspect, José Ibarra, at the scene of Ms. Riley’s killing, mainly through cellphone and GPS tracking data.