Hundreds honor Laken Riley with 5K, memorial on UGA campus
US Rep. Mike Collins speaks in regards to the Laken Riley Act throughout charity occasion for slain nursing scholar.
Allyson Phillips (heart), Laken Riley’s mom, prays at UGA’s Tate Plaza on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, throughout a memorial service for her daughter. Riley was attacked on Feb. 22, 2024 whereas operating in Oconee Forest Park on the UGA campus and killed. (CJ Bartunek for the AJC)
ATHENS — Lauren Phillips says calling Laken Riley her sister would not do their relationship justice.
Riley was her finest good friend and a mom determine who all the time cared, Phillips mentioned Saturday nearly two years after Riley was killed whereas out for a jog on the University of Georgia campus.
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Lauren Phillips (proper), Laken Riley’s youthful sister, recollects her sister’s heat and spiritual religion, and described how Riley impressed her, as Macy Rutledge, one of many occasion’s organizers, holds Phillips’ hand. (CJ Bartunek for the AJC)
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People collect for a memorial service honoring Augusta University nursing scholar Laken Riley on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in Athens. (CJ Bartunek for the AJC)
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US Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson (heart), speaks in the course of the memorial service for Laken Riley. Collins sponsored the Laken Riley Act, which was signed into regulation a 12 months in the past. Nick Kammerzell (proper), president of UGA’s Young Americans for Freedom, interviewed Collins. (CJ Bartunek for the AJC)
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Allyson Phillips (heart), Laken Riley’s mom, prays at UGA’s Tate Plaza on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, throughout a memorial service for her daughter. (CJ Bartunek for the AJC)
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Fletcher Page is Athens bureau chief protecting northeast Georgia for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
