Rancher Pleads Not Guilty on Murder Charge for Allegedly Shooting Illegal Border Crosser Trespassing on His Land

George Alan Kelly enters court for his preliminary hearing in Nogales Justice Court in Nogales, Ariz., on Feb. 22, 2023. Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool

An elderly Arizona rancher has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for allegedly shooting and killing an illegal immigrant from Mexico trespassing on his borderland property.

George Alan Kelly, 73, was initially charged with first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the fatal shooting occurred on his ranch in Nogales at the Arizona-Mexico border on Jan. 30.

A judge late last month downgraded the murder charge to a second-degree one.

During his arrangement on March 6, Kelly pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is set to be on trial on Sept. 6.

Men Dressed in Camouflage

Kelly told authorities that he heard gunshot on the afternoon of Jan. 30. He claimed that he went out onto the porch and saw a horse running in his direction, then a group of men dressed in camouflage clothing and armed with AK-47 rifles.

According to court filings, Kelly claimed he fired multiple warning shots from his own AK-47 over the heads of the men when they pointed their weapons at him, causing them to scatter and run off his property.

During the alleged confrontation, Kelly called the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to report the incident.

An initial search of Kelly’s property by Border Patrol agents and Santa Cruz County sheriff didn’t find any of the men he described.

When Kelly later went out to check on his horse, however, he discovered the body of an unarmed man lying face down in the grass with a single gunshot wound in the back.

The dead man was later identified to be 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, who lived on the Mexican side of Nogales. He had been deported multiple times, The Daily Mail reported, most recently in 2016.

It’s unclear if he ever crossed the border onto Kelly’s property before he was killed.

‘I Couldn’t Help Him’

During a Feb. 22 court hearing, a man identified only by the initials D.R.R. testified that he was with Cuen-Butimea on Jan. 30 when Kelly allegedly started shooting at the group.

“[The group was] walking when this gentleman shot at us,” the witness testified through a Spanish interpreter. “I saw Gabriel hold his chest.”

He claimed to see Cuen-Butimea rolling his eyes before falling to the ground sideways. “I ran. I couldn’t help him.”

The witness also testified hearing about 15 gunshots that sounded like they came from an AK-47. He said he thought “the government” had shot at him as the group fled back across the border fence into Mexico.

Kelly was released from prison on Feb. 24 after paying a $1 million bond.

The money was raised through a Christian crowdsourcing site, GiveSendGo, after the more popular GoFundMe platform took down all campaigns for the rancher from its site.

A spokesperson for GoFundMe explained in a statement that the platform’s policy “explicitly prohibit campaigns that raise money to cover the legal defense of anyone formally charged with an alleged violent crime.”

“Consistent with this long-standing policy, any fundraising campaigns for the legal defense of someone charged with murder are removed from our platform,” the spokesperson said, noting that those who donated to the fundraising campaigns for Kelly’s bond payment “have been fully refunded.”