The judge in the Superior Court of Santa Cruz County declared a mistrial against rancher George Allan Kelly, who was charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault for the Jan. 30, 2023, fatal shooting of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48-year-old, a migrant whom he shot at close range while fleeing from the Border Patrol in Arizona.
According to official information, Cuen-Buitimea was traveling with a group of migrants who ran when they saw border patrol agents in the area. The migrant and another companion were allegedly returning to the south side of the border when they passed by Kelly’s cattle ranch.
It was then that Prosecutors alleged that Kelly recklessly fired his AK-47 from a distance of about 115 meters, fatally wounding Cuen-Buitimea in the back.
The jury began deliberating on Thursday, but as of last Friday informed the judge that it had not been able to reach a decision.
BREAKING: An Arizona judge has declared a mistrial in the case against 75-year-old rancher George Alan Kelly, who faced second-degree murder charges.
The jury, unable to reach a unanimous verdict, left the courtroom divided after intense deliberations.
George Alan Kelly was… pic.twitter.com/LEE72bhzYz
— Hank (@HANKonX) April 23, 2024
The judge asked the jury to continue deliberating, but again informed the court that he could not reach an agreement.
After more than 15 hours of deliberation, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge, Thomas Fink declared a mistrial. The court scheduled a status conference for April 29 to allow the Santa Cruz County Prosecutor’s Office to decide whether it wants to retry the case.
During the trial, which began in early April, the Prosecutor’s Office asserted that Kelly, 75, “intentionally” shot at a group of migrants without any warning.
The migrant lost his life after receiving at least one gunshot wound to the back.
The Prosecutor’s Office argued that the group of migrants who were with the Mexican did not represent any danger to the life of Kelly or his wife when he fired his AK-47 rifle.
The men wearing camouflage clothing and carrying backpacks walked parallel to the rancher’s house and at a distance approximately the length of an American football field (more than 100 meters). None of them carried a firearm.
The rancher’s lawyers assured that The man shot to try to intimidate the group of at least six men who were on his land.
The bullet that killed the Mexican was never found, so the defense argued that there was a possibility that a group of traffickers could have attacked them to steal “their merchandise.”
This despite the fact that no weapons or drugs were found at the scene.
The rancher found the Mexican’s body hours after the events, during a tour of his land. However, His first call was to the Border Patrol and not to the emergency service reporting that he had found the body of “an animal.”
The case attracted attention on both sides of the border due to the controversy generated by followers of former President Donald Trump who call Kelly a “hero” and “patriot” because he defended his lands from the “invasion” of migrants and drug traffickers.
According to immigration records, The victim had entered the United States irregularly several times and had already been deported, the last time in 2016.
*With information from EFE.
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