Prosecutors have decided not to retry an Arizona rancher accused of fatally shooting a Mexican national who crossed his property near the southern border after his murder trial ended with a hung jury the last week.
The Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office has decided to drop the highly politicized case against George Alan Kelly, 75, after jurors failed to reach consensus on a verdict after more than 48 hours of deliberation.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink declared a mistrial last Monday, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to retry Kelly for the death of 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea.
“Due to the unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office has decided not to seek a new trial,” Assistant County Attorney Kimberly Hunley said Monday.
The judge agreed to dismiss the case and will set a hearing date to see if the dismissal will be without prejudice – which would mean the charges could not go to court.
Kelly’s attorney, Brenna Larkin, plans to file a request to dismiss the case without prejudice.
Meanwhile, the rancher said he felt “relieved” when he was interviewed by a local KGUN reporter as he left the courthouse.
“The nightmare is over,” Kelly said.
He offered his “sincere sympathies” to Cuen-Buitimea’s family outside the courthouse where protesters had gathered to demand a new trial so the victim could get justice.
“Gabriel was a human being,” one of the demonstrators wrote on a sign.
Kelly, whose trial lasted nearly a month, had been charged with second-degree murder for the Jan. 30, 2023, shooting near Nogales, Arizona.
His victim, Cuen-Buitimea, lived just south of the US-Mexico border in Nogales, Mexico. He was walking through Kelly’s Arizona ranch with a group of other men when the elderly farmer fired nine shots from an AK-47 rifle toward them from about 100 yards away, prosecutors said.
Kelly claimed the shots were only intended as a warning and were not aimed directly at anyone, but one of the bullets struck Cuen-Buitimea, killing him.
The case has sparked a nationwide debate with the influx of southern migrants arriving in the United States, as Republicans have criticized President Biden for his handling of the border crisis as he runs for re-election .
GoFundMe campaigns created to support Kelly — who was initially held on $1 million bail — were forcibly shut down for violating the site’s policies on raising funds to benefit people accused of violent crimes.
With post wires
New York Post
