Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly boldly chose not to take a plea deal in connection with the shooting death of an immigrant near the U.S.-Mexico border. The 75-year-old landowner reportedly rejected a deal Wednesday that could have limited his sentence to eight years. FOX10 Phoenix. The trial is now set for March 21st in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
Prosecutors had proposed reducing the charge to one count of manslaughter if Kelly were to plead guilty. Kelly appears to have chosen to take a bold risk by going to trial, potentially leading to a harsher sentence. Details of the incident became public after Kelly was arrested on charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault following the Jan. 30, 2023, fatal shooting of Gabriel Quyen Bouytimea, 48. I started. Quen Buitimea, a Mexican national from Nogales, was passing by Kelly's 170-acre ranch with a group of unarmed migrants when he was shot, authorities said. ABC News.
The incident has since sparked widespread emotion amid an intensifying debate over border security, which is expected to be a hot topic in the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Prosecutors said Kelly, whose property is in the Keno Springs area, reportedly used an AK-47 rifle to shoot at the migrants about 100 yards away. The defense story paints a different picture, suggesting Kelly fired into the air and that his actions were out of fear for the couple's safety and property. No other injuries were reported, and the remaining migrants appear to have managed to return to Mexico.
Further complicating the story is Quyen-Buytimea's history of illegally entering the United States, with multiple convictions and deportations on his record, the last occurring in 2016. This is revealed in court documents. The case continues to draw intense scrutiny because it intersects with thorny issues of immigration policy and the rights of private landowners. The trial, which Kelly's lawyers have confirmed is expected to last three weeks, will closely examine and uncover the events that led Kelly to pull the trigger that fateful day. It is expected.