Prosecutors in Arizona announced Monday they will not seek a retrial in the case of 75-year-old rancher George Alan Kelly, who was accused of shooting and killing an unarmed migrant on his property.
“Because of the unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case, the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s office has decided not to seek a retrial,” Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley announced at Monday’s status hearing, after a deadlocked jury forced a mistrial last week.
Kelly’s defense team quickly filed a request that the case be dismissed with prejudice. A hearing on the request will be scheduled for a later date.
Kelly, who pleaded not guilty, was charged with one count of second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting death of Gabriel Cuen Buitimea on Jan. 30, 2023. Buitimea, 48, was a migrant from Mexico and was found dead on Kelly’s 170-acre ranch near Nogales, close to the U.S.-Mexico border.
While defense attorneys argued Kelly called the U.S. Border Patrol and fired several warning shots at the men who he claimed were armed with AK-47s, prosecutors and witnesses said the men were not armed. The other migrants were not injured and managed to escape back to Mexico.
