The jury trial of 75-year-old George Alan Kelly, of Kino Springs, who is charged with second-degree murder, continues in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.

Kelly was arrested on January 30, 2023. after leading authorities to the body at a ranch about 1.5 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

County prosecutors allege that Kelly fired into a group of illegal immigrants, killing Gabriel Quyen Buitimere, a 48-year-old Mexican national. Kelly, through his defense lawyers, has pleaded not guilty and claims that he fired defensive warning shots into the air after being threatened by a group of armed men on his property. Kelly's lawyers also argue that the warning shots did not kill Quyen Buitimere, whose body was found more than 100 yards from his home.

Kelly's trial began last Friday. The trial resumed the following Tuesday and continued through Wednesday and Thursday, with jurors hearing testimony from several witnesses.

The main events in the trial so far are as follows:

Border Patrol ranch liaison officer testifies

On Tuesday, jurors heard testimony from Jeremy Morsell, a Border Patrol ranch liaison who said he spoke with Kelly on the day of the murder. In response to questions from prosecutors, Morsell described a series of phone calls he had with Kelly on Jan. 30, 2023.

Morsell said Kelly called him around 2:30 that afternoon to report five men running on a property in Kino Springs.

“He seemed to be in a lot of a hurry. … He said, 'Jeremy, I'm being shot at, I'm shooting back,'” Morsell testified Tuesday.

Morsell said he called police and asked investigators to respond to an incident on Kelly's property. When he called Kelly again a few minutes later, Morsell said the defendant's statement had changed.

“This time he said he heard gunshots,” Morsell added.

“Did he ever say he saw someone point a gun at him?” Deputy County Prosecutor Kimberly Hanley asked.

“No, ma'am,” Mauser replied.

Then, on the evening of Jan. 30, 2023, Kelly called again, Morsell said. This time, Kelly sounded “scared,” Morsell added.

“Finally, (Kelly) stated that it was possible something had been struck earlier,” Morsell testified.

Kelly also asked Mauser whether the incident had been reported, Mauser testified.

During cross-examination, Kelly's attorney, Cathy Lowthorpe, asked Moselle several questions about illegal activity in the Kino Springs area. Lowthorpe pointed to a text message from Jan. 27 in which Moselle warned Kelly about drug trafficking just days before Jan. 30, 2023.

Mr Lowthorpe also noted that during the initial call Mr Kelly appeared to be “in a hurry” and may not have had time to tell if someone was pointing a gun at him.

“If someone pointed a gun at you, you'd want to rush to defend yourself?” Mr Lowthorpe asked.

“Yes, ma'am,” Mauser replied.

Mr Lowthorpe also noted that Mr Kelly had called the police and asked for help.

“He was calling for help, right? He left a message saying 'call me straight away'?” Mr Lowthorpe asked.

“Yes, ma'am,” said Mauser.

“Nobody knows what (Kelly) meant by asking if this was being reported,” Lowthorpe said, questioning Moselle. “We don't know what he meant. And you?”

Eyewitness describes crossing with Quyen Buitimea

Jurors spent hours on Wednesday listening to testimony from another witness, Daniel Ramirez, who testified that he crossed the border with Quen Buitimea on Jan. 30, 2023. Ramirez, a Honduran migrant working in Sonora state, told jurors he decided to cross the border in search of work.

Ramirez also testified that he had tried to cross the border several times before, paying smugglers $2,500 in cash each time, but each time he was unsuccessful, Ramirez said.

On Jan. 30, 2023, Ramirez said he, Quyen Buitimea, several other migrants and a smuggler climbed over a lower section of the border fence and began walking north. From there, Ramirez said the group scattered when they saw Border Patrol agents in the area. Ramirez told the jury that he and Quyen Buitimea ran south.

Ramirez then told jurors he saw gunfire coming in their direction. Quyen Buitimere was shot, Ramirez said. Ramirez testified that he saw a red horse and a house with a pine tree in the area.

Ramirez said he then ran, turned around and saw a man. “The man was firing at us,” he added through a court interpreter.

Ramirez said the man was wearing a gray shirt and had something white visible on his head, but he did not provide identifying details in his testimony Wednesday.

Cross-examination of Ramirez lasted for hours.

Kelly's lead attorney, Brenna Larkin, questioned Ramirez on many details, including why he never tried to enter the country legally at one point. Larkin also questioned Ramirez about several alleged inconsistencies between his current testimony and statements he gave to law enforcement during previous questioning. For example, according to Larkin, Ramirez previously told law enforcement officials that he and Quen Buitimere crossed the border west of Nogales. Kino Springs is east of Nogales.

Ramirez testified Wednesday that he had crossed east.

“You also testified at the hearing in this case and stated that the incident occurred west of Nogales, remember?” Larkin asked.

“I don't remember,” Ramirez said through an interpreter, later adding that he could have previously described the location as west rather than east.

The current trial is scheduled to run until April 19th.