The jury in the case of George Alan Kelly, an Arizona rancher charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a Mexican man whose body was found shot to death on his border ranch in January 2023, Could not reach a verdict.
The jury began deliberating on April 18th. After several days of failing to reach a verdict, the judge overseeing the trial declared a mistrial on Monday.
The case centers on the death of Gabriel Quen-Buytimea, a Mexican national who was found shot to death on January 30, 2023, on Kelly’s 170-acre cattle ranch near Kino Springs, outside Nogales, Arizona. Ta.
Kelly’s defense attorneys disputed prosecutors’ claims that Quyen-Buitimare was an unarmed immigrant and suggested that cartel influence muddied the death investigation.
“Simply put, this is not someone looking for the American Dream. There is no evidence that this person came here for such benevolent purposes,” Kelly’s attorney Brenna Larkin said Thursday. This was stated in the closing argument. “And we bring this up, you know, not to be critical of Gabriel or to have no sympathy for him. If you are, it’s dangerous. It’s inherently more dangerous than just being an immigrant. So it’s relevant for that reason.”
Quyen-Buytimea has entered the country illegally multiple times and was deported in 2016.
Over several weeks, jurors heard testimony about where and how far Kelly was standing when prosecutors say he shot Quyen-Boutimere and his motive for the shooting.
The defense argued that Kelly had only fired warning shots into the air from the patio of his home earlier in the day, while his wife, Wanda Kelly, was wearing camouflage and carrying a rifle and a backpack. He said he spotted two armed men walking with about 100 people and called the Border Patrol’s contact number at the ranch. It is located a few meters from their house. Several hours passed before law enforcement responded to the scene and Kelly called Border Patrol again to report the discovery of the body.
The fatal bullet was never recovered from the scene.
Dr. Ron Martinelli, a criminologist who is working pro bono as a consultant for Kelly’s defense, previously told Fox News Digital that none of the state’s witnesses in the trial believed that the Rip Crew was responsible. He said he had not provided any testimony rebutting his side’s theory. He was sometimes affiliated with the cartel and may have shot and robbed Quyen-Buitimare.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway was pressed by the defense about an online video that appeared to show Kelly speculating that he wanted to “go hunting Mexicans.”
“You say to Big Soopers, ‘I caught this rancher shooting immigrants,’ and then you say, ‘There are some people who are coming to hunt Mexicans.’ Did you say that?” the defense attorney asked Hathaway on Wednesday. Big Super is the name of his real estate YouTube personality, whose videos were featured as Hathaway toured border neighborhoods.
“Oh, yeah,” Hathaway replied. “I just colloquially said, ‘There are people who are trying to hunt Mexicans.'” Yes, I did say that. ”
Martinelli also claimed on Fox News Digital that Hathaway violated U.S. State Department protocol and Mexican law by arranging an unauthorized meeting to interview Daniel Ramirez in Nogales, Mexico, in the weeks after the shooting. .
Prosecutors argued that Ramirez was the only witness to Quyen-Buitimare’s shooting and then fled across the border.
Ramirez testified that he had carried drugs across the border before, although not on the day of the January 2023 shooting.
The defense argued that, based on Ramirez’s own testimony, it appears he was not even present that day. The jury was able to inspect Kelly’s ranch to get an idea of the condition of the land.
“The only conclusion that can be reached based on Daniel’s description of this property is that he was not there,” Larkin said. “We cannot find Mr. Kelly guilty of aggravated assault on Daniel just because Daniel was not at the scene. And because we have not proven that Alan shot this person, we cannot find him guilty of second-degree murder. He cannot be found guilty of any crime and must be proven.
Larkin told jurors that Kelly was in “risk for his life” and “had a rifle pointed at him,” meaning the use of deadly physical force was also justified. said.
But even if that were the case, the rancher “did not use deadly physical force,” Larkin said in closing arguments. “He fired into the air above the trees, above where people could stop making threats.”
“The law doesn’t say you can’t use less force to protect yourself. The law doesn’t say that when you’re in a remote area and you’re there. This is not downtown Nogales. This is isolated. It’s empty,” Larkin told jurors. “He can fire a warning shot to protect himself and his wife. And that’s exactly what he did. That’s what you should do in this situation when you’re faced with a serious threat.”
In the state’s closing argument, prosecutor Mike Jett told jurors that Kelly saw “two unarmed men walking two fences away” and “stepped onto the patio with an AK-47 out. He claimed that what he had witnessed was “unjustified” and shot him nine times without giving him a verbal warning. ”
“He escalates the situation. His wife is fine,” Jett said Thursday. “You do not have the right to use deadly force to protect someone you did not have to protect. If there is no threat to your home or yard, you do not have the right to use deadly force, and you do not have the right to use deadly force to protect someone you did not have to protect.” No right to initiate, incite, or escalate force. No right.
“Gabriel and Daniel were shot. Gabriel was killed by a high-powered weapon, AK-47. The entrance wound and exit wound were aligned with the defendant’s property,” the prosecutor said. “Stand back, no verbal warning. The defendant fired nine shots from the AK. The shell casing proves that. The firing pattern proves where he was standing. The position of Gabriel’s body and The orientation proves where the shot came from.”
Jett concluded by telling the jury that even if they were not satisfied with the second-degree murder charge, they could still convict Kelly on lesser charges of manslaughter, manslaughter or aggravated assault.
Mr. Kelly made national headlines last year when he was held on $1 million bail for several weeks on first-degree murder charges.
The maximum charge was later reduced to second-degree murder.
Earlier this year, the rancher rejected an agreement from prosecutors to reduce the charge to one count of negligent homicide if he agreed to plead guilty.
