An Arizona rancher charged with fatally shooting an illegal immigrant on his property will not be retried, prosecutors have declared.
George Alan Kelly, 75, an Arizona rancher charged with killing a Mexican man who entered the United States illegally and invaded his property in 2023, will not be retried in court, prosecutors say. announced on Monday. The decision came after the jury deadlocked and a judge declared a mistrial earlier this month.
“Due to the unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case, the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office has decided not to seek a new trial,” Assistant County Attorney Kimberly Hanley said, according to CBS News. declared County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink.
Kelly is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly shooting and killing 48-year-old unarmed illegal immigrant Gabriel Quyen Buittimer on January 30, 2023, as he moved through Kelly’s property near the Arizona-Mexico border. and was charged with aggravated assault.
Quyen-Buytimea was said to have been traveling with a group of illegal immigrants at the time, who fled when they spotted Border Patrol agents near the border. Quyen-Buytimere and his group were allegedly fleeing from federal agents as they returned to the southern border through Kelly’s ranch.
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Although Mr. Kelly’s team claimed he only fired warning shots a few yards above the group of migrants to protect him and his wife, prosecutors say the rancher recklessly fired an AK-47 from about 115 yards. and claimed that it hit Quyen-Buytimea. As a result, Mexicans died. (Related: ICE removes terrorist suspects from pursuit just weeks after entering the country)
However, after more than two days of deliberation, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision regarding the verdict. Judge Fink declared a mistrial on April 22nd.
Fink told prosecutors after the mistrial that their options were to retry the case or drop the case entirely, and prosecutors ultimately chose the latter.
Fink said a hearing will be scheduled to determine whether the case will be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought back to court. Kelly’s attorney, Brenna Larkin, informed the judge that she would ask him to dismiss the case with prejudice.
“I hope he gets fired with prejudice, but we’ll see what happens,” Larkin said, according to the newspaper. KOLD-TV. “I’m glad it’s over. We got the right result. I wanted a not guilty verdict so this would be gone forever and they wouldn’t have to worry about this.”
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