George Alan Kelly at his arraignment, March 6, 2023.Photo:Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star via AP, Pool
Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star via AP, Pool
Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea was among a group of migrants crossing the border into Arizona when rancher George Alan Kelly fired his AK-47, killing the 48-year-old man Jan. 30 last year, according to authorities.
The migrants were unarmed when they had wandered onto Kelly’s 170-acre cattle ranch in the Kino Springs area, according to authorities,per The Associated Press. Kelly shot from about 100 yards away, fatally striking Cuen-Buitimea.
No one else was injured and the other migrants dashed back to the Mexican side of the border, the AP reports.
George Alan Kelly with his lawyer, Brenna Larkin, at his March 6 arraignment.Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star via AP, Pool
Kelly’s defense lawyer, Brenna Larkin, virtually appeared at the Wednesday hearing in Arizona’s Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
“We have discussed that plea with Mr. Kelly,” she told the judge, on behalf of the rancher who also attended virtually. “It is his intention to reject that plea.”
If convicted of the original charges, Kelly — who pleaded not guilty March 6 — could now face as much as 24 and a half years behind bars.
George Alan Kelly’s mug shot.Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office via AP
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office via AP
The Mexico-Arizona border.AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
The man’s death and Kelly’s subsequent incarceration hasignited controversyamidst thecountry-wide debate on border security and asylum rightsthat is a focus of the 2024 presidential election.
However, authorities allege only Kelly had a gun,according to the Associated Press.
Wanda Kelly, George Alan Kelly’s wife, leaves Nogales Justice Court in Arizona, following his preliminary hearing, Feb. 22, 2023.Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP
Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP
In Wanda’s telling, per the judge, her husband instructed her to be quiet and she hid inside the house while Kelly went outside to investigate. Wanda added that “usually” Kelly fired warning shots — she had heard at least one gunshot that day — when people came onto the property.
Informing Wanda that someone had been found dead with a gunshot wound on their property, detectives later recorded her alleged response per the court documents: “Well, if you knew the things that been goin’ on out there, you would have — you wouldn’t be waitin’ around.”
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The murder trial – which was originally slated for September 2023 – had been delayed when prosecutors appealed Judge Thomas Fink’s decisions barring Kelly’s text messages from entering into evidence and prohibiting his wife from taking the stand due to marital privilege, per 13 News.
George Alan Kelly at his preliminary hearing in Nogales Justice Court in Arizona, Feb. 22, 2023.Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP
Now, Kelly’s three-week long March trial will likely include testimony from Wanda, who prosecutors intend to call to testify against her husband.
At the hearing earlier this week, Judge Fink set Kelly’s trial to start March 21, the AP and Tucson’s 13 News reports. Eight jurors will decide the case.
source: people.com
