Elderly Arizona Rancher Charged in Killing of Suspected Illegal Immigrant
A 73-year-old Arizona rancher was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly fatally shooting a Mexican man who was on the rancher’s property just 150 feet from the U.S.-Mexico border.
George Alan Kelly is accused of shooting Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, 48, who is from Nogales, Mexico. Authorities recovered the victim’s personal details from a Mexican voter registration card he carried.
Police have not publicly shared a known motive for the shooting, which occurred on January 30 in Kino Springs, Ariz.
Reports suggest Cuen-Butimea may have been in the country illegally; he reportedly had a history of illegally crossing into the U.S. and had been deported several times, the Daily Mail reported. His most recent deportation occurred in 2016.
Authorities received a call from someone named “Allen” hours before the shooting who reported a “possible active shooter,” per Nogales International. The caller said there was a “group of people running” and added that he “was unsure if he was getting shot at as well.”
Chief Deputy Gerardo Castillo told the outlet authorities ultimately responded to a separate report of shots fired on the cattle ranch and found a deceased adult Hispanic male.
“It doesn’t seem like Mr. Kelly and the decedent knew each other,” Castillo said.
Kelly’s bail was set at $1 million. He is currently being held at the Santa Cruz County Jail. He asked a judge to reduce the bail so he could return to his ranch to help his wife, who he said cannot take care of the ranch.
“She’s there by herself… nobody to take care of her, the livestock or the ranch,” he reportedly said.
Arizona has a “stand your ground” style laws that states “a person is justified in threatening or using physical force against another when and to the extent a reasonable person would believe that physical force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful physical force.”
State law also permits the use of deadly force to prevent burglary of unoccupied residential structures.
