Prosecutors say they will not retry an Arizona rancher accused of murder near the US-Mexico border

PHOENIX — Prosecutors said Monday they will not retry an Arizona rancher whose trial for the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property last week ended with a deadlocked jury.

Jurors in the trial of George Alan Kelly were unable to reach a unanimous decision on a verdict after more than two days of deliberation. Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink declared a mistrial on April 22.

After the mistrial, the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office had the option to retry Kelly — or drop the case. Fink dismissed the case as requested by prosecutors.

Kelly could not immediately be reached for comment. His attorney Brenna Larkin did not immediately return an emailed request for comment after Fink ruled.

The 75-year-old Kelly had been on trial in Nogales, on the border with Mexico, for almost a month. The rancher had been charged with manslaughter in the Jan. 30, 2023, killing of 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea outside Nogales, Arizona.

Cuen-Buitimea had lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico. He was part of a group of men Kelly encountered that day on his cattle ranch. His two adult daughters, along with Mexican consular officials, met with prosecutors last week to learn more about the consequences of a mistrial.

Prosecutors had said Kelly recklessly fired nine shots from an AK-47 rifle at a group of men on his cattle ranch, including Cuen-Buitimea, about 300 feet away. Kelly has said he fired warning shots into the air, but claims he did not shoot anyone directly.

The trial coincided with a presidential election year that has sparked widespread interest in border security. During the trial, court officials took jurors to Kelly’s ranch and to a section of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Kelly previously rejected an agreement with prosecutors that would have reduced the charge to one count of negligent homicide if he had pleaded guilty.

Kelly was also charged with aggravated assault on another person in the group of about eight people.