An Arizona judge on Monday night declared a mistrial in the criminal case against rancher George Alan Kelly, who is accused of killing an illegal immigrant on his property in 2023.
Kelly, 75, was arrested on Jan. 30, 2023, after shooting and killing Gabriel Quen Buittimea, a 48-year-old unarmed illegal immigrant who was passing by Kelly’s property near the U.S.-Mexico border. He was charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault. according to Go to News Nation. Both sides made closing arguments last Thursday, allowing the jury to deliberate on the evidence presented.
By Monday afternoon, the state had argued that continuing the deadlock could be mandatory for jurors, but Kelly’s team urged jurors to continue deliberating and be given more time, the paper said. He said he asked for it. However, no unanimous decision was reached on any of the points, and the process stalled.
After the declaration, Kelly’s lawyer, Kathy Lowthorpe, told the media outside the courtroom that only one juror on the jury was guilty, which was why the jury had asked to continue deliberations. It was revealed that there was. (Related: ICE removes terrorist suspects from pursuit just weeks after entering the country)
“One person pleaded guilty and the rest were not guilty. So seven people are innocent and one person is guilty,” Lowthorpe said. “We instinctively believe there was no way for the state to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.”
George Alan Kelly’s lawyer, Kathy Lowthorpe, said the miscarriage of justice was caused by one juror who believed Kelly was guilty. She said the remaining seven wanted to vote for acquittal. pic.twitter.com/BvS88AupcX
— Adam Klepp (@AdamKleppAZ) April 23, 2024
Officials said Quyen-Buytimea was traveling with a group of illegal immigrants last year when they spotted Border Patrol agents in the area they crossed and fled. according to Go to ABC News. After fleeing, Quyen-Buytimea and another undocumented immigrant reportedly returned to the southern border, passing through Kelly’s ranch to reach their destination.
Kelly’s team argued that the rancher had only fired a warning shot a few yards above the group to protect him and his wife, but prosecutors say the 75-year-old Kelly recklessly fired from a distance of about 115 yards. fired an AK-47, hitting Kuyen. – Buitimare was in the back, ABC News reported.
Prosecutors continue to argue that Mr. Kelly’s statements to authorities after the incident were inconsistent throughout the investigation, saying that Mr. Kelly did not first tell authorities that he fired the gun and that the undocumented immigrant later said he was armed. It is believed that the group was a group of 10 to 15 people. He used an AR-style rifle, the outlet reported.
Kelly’s attorneys instead argued that law enforcement officials failed to follow up on other leads that could have cleared the rancher, and that Kelly never admitted to shooting multiple people, according to ABC News. He claimed not to have done so. Authorities were unable to recover the bullet that hit Quyen Buitimaa, but Kelly’s defense argued that another member of the illegal immigrant group shot him.
Kuyen-Buytimea, who lives south of the border in Nogales, Mexico, reportedly entered the United States illegally several times and was deported to Mexico in 2016. Daniel Ramirez, another immigrant who was said to have been with him at the time of the incident, told jurors that Kuyen-Buytimea grabbed his chest and “punched him” before walking past him.
Ramirez also said that while the two men were allegedly smuggled into the United States rather than drug traffickers, illegal immigrants smuggled marijuana in separate cases in hopes of reducing the fees owed to smugglers. He told the group that he had admitted it. Marcos Moreno Baez, Quyen-Buytimea’s lawyer, said: Said Media outside the courthouse said the trial would “continue to seek justice” as he was “confident that justice will prevail.”
“That’s the way it is and it’s always going to be. Let me go home, okay? Is that okay? That’s the way it is and it’s going to be. I’ll keep fighting forever. I I will not stop it,” Kelly said after the mistrial.
The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 29, according to News Nation.
