An elderly Arizona rancher is fighting for his freedom after being forced to defend against armed invading border jumpers. A Mexican national ended up dead and George Alan Kelly seems, on the surface, to be responsible. There’s a chance he wasn’t even the one who shot the victim. The property owner was forced to fire his weapon causing what appears to be a sort of “collateral damage” incident. It might turn out his shot didn’t kill the migrant.
Rancher defended himself
Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly admits firing “warning shots.” He continues to insist that he didn’t pull the trigger until “a group of men pointed an assault rifle at him.” He meant to chase them away and did.
Later, he discovered the body. He instantly called it in and cooperated fully with the investigation. Prosecutors have charged him with full on first-degree, premeditated murder.
There is no doubt that 48-year-old Mexican citizen Gabriel Cuen-Butimea is dead. Whether the rancher ended his life, on January 30, is still an unanswered question, his public defender, Brenna Larkin argues.
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Arizona rancher, who has a $1 million bond for shooting a migrant on his property, has pleaded with the judge to reduce bail so he doesn't lose his livestock.@gofundme removed all campaigns to help him.Please donate here if you can @GiveSendGo ⬇️https://t.co/zG4ytv8EHJ
— ꧁🍃 Ɣ 🍃꧂ (@V_its_me_) February 10, 2023
Even if it was his bullet which ended the illegal immigrant’s life, there was absolutely none of the “intention” required to make it murder or the planning needed for it to be considered “premeditated.” At worst, it’s accidental manslaughter but she thinks her client is owed a full acquittal.
The 78-year-old rancher told police he “heard a single gunshot while he was inside his ranch near the border.” That may have been the shot which killed Cuen-Butimea. Ballistics haven’t come back on that yet.
Kelly then “saw a group of men dressed in camouflage running through the woods near his home.” He had no idea who they were and didn’t have his permission to be there. He properly alerted Border Patrol’s ranch liaison, “then went out onto his porch with his rifle.”
Threatened by armed thugs
Unlike most migrants, these men were dressed in camo and heavily armed. As related by his lawyer, “the leader of the armed group of men saw Mr. Kelly and pointed an AK-47 right at him.” The outnumbered and outgunned rancher did what he has the constitutional right to do, defended himself.
“Mr. Kelly, fearing for his life and safety, fired several shots from his rifle, hoping to scare them away from him, his wife, his animals, and his home. As he shot, Mr. Kelly took care to aim well over the heads of the armed group of men.” Some say, that was his mistake. He should have aimed for center of mass. Once you decide to use deadly force, use it properly and decisively.
The group did indeed scatter. He called the incident in to Border Patrol. Soon, Santa Cruz County sheriff deputies came out to investigate. After the rancher told them what happened, “they walked through his property but found no remaining men and left.” Kelly went on about his day.
The right to self-defense is under attack. Please help George Alan Kelly.https://t.co/rJTIemc7Is pic.twitter.com/bBypW2Z9Rr
— Dee Dee Weeks (@DeeDeeWeeks) February 10, 2023
Hours later, “his dogs led him to the body of the Mexican national ‘lying face down in the grass’ near a mesquite tree.” That prompted another call to the Border Patrol liaison.
His lawyer is trying to get him out on bond. They’re holding him until he becomes a millionaire and that’s simply not fair. A murdering gang banger would be out on the street for free in half of America. The Democrat half.
Sure, the rancher admits “firing warning shots at the smugglers earlier in the day,” Larkin told the court. “But he denied firing any shot directly at any person. He does not believe that any of his warning shots could have possibly hit the person or caused the death. All of the shooting that Mr. Kelly did on that date of the incident was in self-defense and justified.” It’s not fair to hold him in a cell. Especially when “officials have not determined the type of gun used to shoot the victim or his time of death.“
