- Kelly, 75, was charged with killing Gabriel Cuen-Butimea on Jan. 30, 2023, at his home in Nogales, near the Mexican border
- The decision came after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision after more than two full days of deliberation
- The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office can still decide whether Kelly should appear in court again or drop the case entirely
A mistrial has been declared, freeing Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly after he was accused of fatally shooting an unarmed Mexican migrant on his land.
Kelly, 75, was charged with killing Gabriel Cuen-Butimea on Jan. 30, 2023, at his home in Nogales, near the Mexican border.
The decision came after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision after more than two full days of deliberation.
“Based on the jury’s inability to reach a verdict on any issue,” Judge Thomas Fink said, “this case is a mistrial.”
The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office can still decide whether Kelly should appear in court again or drop the case altogether.
A mistrial has been declared, releasing Arizona farmer George Alan Kelly (pictured left) after he was accused of shooting dead an unarmed Mexican migrant on his land.
A status hearing was scheduled for next Monday afternoon, during which prosecutors could inform the judge whether they plan to retry the case.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office for comment.
Kelly was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 48-year-old Cuen-Buitimea, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico.
Prosecutors said Kelly recklessly fired nine shots an AK-47 rifle towards a group of men, including Cuen-Buitimea, about 90 meters away on his cattle ranch.
Kelly has said he fired warning shots into the air but did not shoot anyone directly.
Court officials took jurors to Kelly’s ranch and part of the border. Supreme Court Justice Thomas Fink denied requests from the news media to get involved.
After Monday’s ruling, Consul General Marcos Moreno Baez of the Mexican Consulate in Nogales, Arizona, said he would wait Monday evening with Cuen-Buitimea’s two adult daughters to meet with prosecutors from the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office to investigate more learn about the consequences of a mistrial.
“Mexico will continue to monitor the case and guide the family who want justice.” Moreno said. ‘We hope for a very fair outcome.’
Kelly’s attorney Brenna Larkin did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment after the ruling was issued. Larkin had asked Fink to let the jurors deliberate another day.
He had rejected one before agreement with the prosecutors that would have reduced the charge to one count of negligent homicide had he pleaded guilty.
Kelly was also charged that day with aggravated assault against another person in the group of about eight people, including a man from Honduras living in Mexico who testified at the trial that he had gone to the U.S. that day in search of work.
The other migrants were not injured and all returned to Mexico.
Cuen-Buitimea lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico. He had previously entered the U.S. illegally several times and was deported, most recently in 2016, court records show.
The nearly month-long trial coincided with a presidential election year that has sparked widespread interest in border security.
Fink had told jurors that if they could not reach a verdict on the second-degree murder charge, they could try to reach a unanimous decision on a lesser charge of reckless manslaughter or negligent homicide.
A second-degree murder conviction would have carried a minimum prison sentence of 10 years.
The jury received the case Thursday afternoon, deliberated briefly that day and then throughout Friday and Monday.
This is a breaking news story.