George Alan Kelly is a free man. The 75-year-old Arizona rancher will not face a new trial for aggravated assault and second-degree murder of Mexican Gabriel Cuen Buitimea, which occurred in January of last year in Nogales. The Santa Cruz County Prosecutor's Office has at the moment ruled out starting a new trial against Kelly, who shot with an AK-47 at a group of immigrants on his property when they were fleeing from the Border Patrol. Last week, Judge Thomas Fink threw out the trial against the rancher after the eight jurors failed to reach an agreement after two days of deliberations. Prosecutors had the option of charging Kelly with other, less serious crimes or dismissing the case. They have leaned towards the second option.
“Due to the unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case, the Santa Cruz County Prosecutor's Office has decided not to seek a new trial,” one of the prosecutors, Kimberley Hunley, read in court. In the coming days it will be known whether prosecutors, who were never able to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, close the case forever or leave open a possibility to try him later.
Hunley's words brought tears to the tough rancher, for whom a judicial nightmare that could send him to prison for 10 years has ended. Kelly felt that patrolling the border was among his responsibilities and claimed that the area was being invaded by immigrants, echoing right-wing media coverage. In text messages shown at trial, Kelly even joked with a friend about hunting migrants, a topic he even addressed. in a self-published novel. In January he rejected a plea deal from prosecutors, who offered him to plead guilty to manslaughter, a less severe charge that included less prison time.
For Cuen Buitimea's relatives, however, the torture continues as they demand justice for the murder of an unarmed man who was shot in the back by a machine gun. The Mexican Foreign Ministry assures that it has provided support to the victim's two daughters, who met with those in charge of the accusation last week. Despite the lack of resolution in the trial, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers that prosecutors presented “solid evidence” during a process that leaves no responsibility for the death of a 48-year-old migrant. The defendant also faced a charge of aggravated assault against a Honduran immigrant who was part of the group and who testified at the trial.
The outcome has been welcomed by the American radical right. X users thank Kelly for having defended the territory “from illegal invaders,” they call him hero, and they claim that the trial should never have taken place. The process was followed closely outside of Arizona, as it was carried out in parallel with a presidential campaign where the border and immigration management have been one of the most important issues for voters of the Republican and Democratic parties.
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Kelly, who has always pleaded not guilty, had been accused of Buitimea's death, which occurred on his property on January 30, 2023. Authorities had assured that the deceased lived in Nogales (Mexico), a community on the other side of the border, and who had been deported for the last time in 2016 after several crossings. That morning he crossed illegally into the United States along with other people. On their way they saw the Border Patrol, so they decided to return to Mexican territory to avoid being apprehended.
The group of immigrants passed through Kelly's cattle ranch on their return. He, about 100 meters away, said he had fired into the air to scare them away and because he feared for his safety and that of his wife. His defense assured that he never directly targeted anyone. The eight members of the jury visited the ranch where the events occurred. On the property, investigators found nine shell casings from a semi-automatic machine gun. They were all around the area where the victim's body was found.
“There was no other shooting in this. The victim suffered a serious wound from a bullet that came from an AK-47 whose trajectory began directly at Mr. Kelly's residence,” said during the trial the main detective in the case, Jorge Ainza, who assured from the stand that he believes that the rancher purposely shot Cuen Buitimea.
Throughout the month-long trial, prosecutors attempted to highlight inconsistencies in Kelly's account. After opening fire, the man called Border Patrol agents. He confessed to Jeremy Marcel, one of the uniformed security forces, that he had shot them because they shot him first. Authorities, however, found no evidence that Cuen Buitimea or any other migrant was armed. No bullets or casings were found near the Kelly home.
The defendant's testimony changed once he received advice from his attorneys, Brenna Larkin and Kathy Lowthorp. During the trial, they charged against the police for having refused to follow other lines of investigation. They also focused on a strategy in which they sought to downplay their client's first statements. “The police did not listen correctly to what Alan told them and they did not care, in any case they had already decided that he was guilty,” the defense stated in the process.
The version seems to have been the one that won over the jury. Lowthorp assured on Monday, April 22, when the trial was adjourned, that among the eight members of the deliberation only one wanted to declare Kelly guilty. The other seven were inclined, however, to acquit the Arizona rancher of the crime of second-degree murder.
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