An Arizona rancher accused of fatally shooting a Mexican man says he is ready to “start his life over” after prosecutors dropped the charges.
“It’s not my fault. I didn’t do that.” George Alan Kelly, 75, told NewsNation Days after the second-degree murder trial of Gabriel Quyen-Buitimare, 48, ended in his favor with a hung jury.
“Somebody else is to blame for that,” Kelly said, insisting he only fired warning shots into the air to scare the men walking on his ranch on the Arizona-Mexico border.
The man, who is in his 70s, said Quyen-Buytimea “turned” towards him and “pointed the AK at me.”
“And at the time, everyone said it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but you said you should have shot him because he was getting ready to shoot you.” It’s time,” Kelly said.
“I don’t know what it was, but I said, ‘No, I’m not going to do it,'” he said.
“So I shot over the tree above his head and thank God he and the rest of his buddies got away.” He said, remembering how he had led me there.
Instead, prosecutors argued that Kelly actually fired nine shots with an AK-47, one of which struck and killed Quyen-Buytimea.
“They accused me of shooting him,” he said. “I don’t think I was treated fairly in the investigation. I think I was arrested without cause and without just cause.”
Kelly called her detention “the worst 22 days of my life.”
“If hell is like that, I’m going to do everything in my power not to go,” he said of the experience.
But now prosecutors have confirmed they are not pursuing a new trial, and Kelly said he and his wife are ready to “start their lives over” despite still being on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I’ve lived in places like this all my life. I’m not afraid to exist here. But I know it’s a clear risk,” he admitted. Ta.
Still, he faces challenges from a lengthy legal battle.
“We have no funds. Our life savings are gone,” he said.
“That cloud is still over my head. It’s a long road and we’re not out of danger yet, but we’re not giving up. I’m not going to let them beat me.”
