Some media outlets reporting on the illegal immigrant who was recently convicted of murdering 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts in 2018 downplayed his legal status in the country.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, who a jury said was guilty of first-degree murder, is being described as a “farmworker” in headlines covering the story.
Shortly after the story broke on Friday, CNN headlined its report: “Farmworker found guilty of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts.”
The Associated Press wrote: “Farm laborer convicted in 2018 stabbing death of Iowa runner.”
The New York Times reported: “Farmworker Convicted of Fatally Stabbing Iowa College Student.”
“Iowa Farmworker Found Guilty of Murdering Mollie Tibbetts,” the Daily Beast captioned its report.
Rivera, 26, illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as a teenager, and his murder conviction will result in a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
The outlets ultimately identified his immigration status: CNN described Rivera as an “undocumented immigrant” from Mexico in the fifth paragraph; the Associated Press and the New York Times referenced his illegal immigration status in their fourth paragraphs, respectively; and the Daily Beast said he entered the United States illegally in the sixth paragraph.
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During the trial, defense attorneys Chad and Jennifer Frese, who have said they will appeal the conviction, argued that Bahena Rivera was an accomplice to the crime but was not guilty of murdering Tibbetts.
Rivera even testified that two other men killed Tibbetts and that he was forced to transport her body.
The argument did not convince the jury.
Instead, the jury sided with prosecutor Scott Brown, who argued the migrant’s testimony was “a figment of his imagination” and that he was solely responsible for Tibbetts’s murder.
Brown told the jury that Rivera drove past Tibbetts when she was out on an evening run and attempted to make advances on her.
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The migrant was rejected and lashed out, the prosecutor argued.
“The way he reacts with that anger is to stab this young woman to death and to dump her body in a cornfield,” he told the jury.
Rivera will be held without bond until his sentencing hearing on July 15.
