Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly, charged with murder for shooting and killing a Mexican man on his border property, will not be retried, a prosecutor in the Santa Cruz County Prosecutor's Office said.
The state has charged Kelly, 75, with second-degree murder for shooting and killing migrant Gabriel Kueng Buitimea on his property in January 2023.
The decision not to retry Kelly came a week after a mistrial was returned after a jury failed to reach a consensus.
Kelly's defense lawyers confirmed to Fox News Digital that there was “just one dissenting juror” who wanted a guilty verdict, but that the rest of the jury wanted an acquittal.
Judge issues mistrial in Arizona rancher charged with killing Mexican on border property
George Alan Kelly appeared for a preliminary hearing on February 22, 2023, at Nogales Justice Court in Nogales, Arizona. (Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via The Associated Press, Pool, File)
The case involved the death of Quen Buitimere, who was found shot to death on Jan. 30, 2023, on Kelly's 170-acre ranch near Keno Springs, outside Nogales, Arizona.
“Due to the unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case, the Santa Cruz County Prosecutor's Office has decided not to seek a new trial,” Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hanley told Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink on Monday.
Kueng Buitimea had previously entered the country illegally on multiple occasions and was deported in 2016.
Kelly's defense disputed the prosecution's argument that Quyen Buitimea was an unarmed immigrant and argued that cartel influence had corrupted the investigation into his death.
During the trial, prosecutor Mike Jette said Kelly recklessly fired nine shots from an AK-47 rifle at a group of men, including Kueng Buitimea, who were on his property about 100 yards away. Kelly argued he fired warning shots into the air but did not hit anyone directly.
Defense lawyers for Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly say “lone holdout” juror blocks acquittal as state considers second trial
George Alan Kelly, right, leaves the Santa Cruz County Courthouse with his attorney, Cathy Lowthorpe, on Friday, March 22, 2024, in Nogales, Arizona. Kelly, a rancher, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of a man he met on his land near Mexico. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via The Associated Press, Pool)
“He escalated the situation. My wife is safe,” Jette said Thursday. “You have no right to use deadly physical force to protect someone who doesn't need protecting. You have no right to use deadly force when there is no threat to your home or yard. And you have no right to initiate, instigate or escalate an action with deadly force. You have no right whatsoever.”
The defense argued that Kelly had simply fired warning shots into the air from the patio of his home earlier that morning, and his wife, Wanda Kelly, testified that she spotted two armed men in camouflage uniforms with rifles and backpacks about 100 feet from the house and called the Border Patrol's ranch liaison officer.
The fatal bullet was never recovered from the scene.
Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly's wife testifies in murder trial, says armed men were at their border home
George Alan Kelly listens to closing arguments in Santa Cruz County Superior Court in Nogales, Arizona, Thursday, April 18, 2024. Kelly is charged with second-degree murder for the January 2023 killing of Gabriel Kuyen Buitimere, 48, who lived in Nogales, just south of the Mexican border. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via The Associated Press, Pool)
“Simply put, this individual is not seeking the American dream. There is no evidence that this individual is here for any of those benevolent purposes,” Kelly's attorney, Brenna Larkin, said in closing arguments Thursday. “We're not bringing this case to criticize or dissympathize with Gabriel, but people who live a criminal lifestyle are dangerous. They're inherently more dangerous than simply coming here as immigrants. So this case is relevant for that reason.”
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Kelly also rejected a deal earlier this year in which prosecutors would have reduced the charges to one. Negligence causing death Whether he agrees to plead guilty or not.
Fox News' Daniel Wallace contributed to this report.
