Arizona rancher charged with murder after alleged shooting of migrant
An elderly frontier rancher in Arizona has been charged with murder after a Mexican citizen was shot dead on the rancher’s property. The alleged shooting took place around sunset on 30 January.
Police say that around 6:00 pm on January 30, 73-year-old George Alan Kelly shot dead 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, a Mexican citizen. Kelly is currently in a Santa Cruz, Arizona prison awaiting a $1 million bail. He is currently charged with first-degree murder, the sheriff’s office said.
In an interview with Breitbart Texas, Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Gerardo Castillo said the shooting took place at a frontier ranch in an area that was not close to the residence. The police were called at 5:56 p.m. Sunset on January 30 in nearby Nogales, Arizona was at 5:57 pm.
Chief Castillo said detectives are still investigating the Mexican’s death. He said there was no evidence that Kelly knew Kuen-Butimea. Authorities identified the deceased from a Mexican voter registration card found on him.
Castillo said that Kelly did not make any statements to the police, and her interests are represented by a lawyer. Breitbart Texas reached out to a lawyer for more information, but there was no call back at press time.
Chief Deputy Sheriff David Hathaway told Breitbart they currently have no information on the deceased’s immigration status. It is not clear if he just crossed the border to the ranch or why he was on the ranch at the time of the shooting. No weapon belonging to the deceased was found at the scene.
The chief also could not disclose other details of the shooting, citing an ongoing investigation. He added that there are usually very few incidents of violence associated with migrants crossing the area.
One of the neighbors, who wished to remain anonymous, told KOLD 13 News that he was friends with Kelly and that Kelly had problems with people on his property prior to this incident. The neighbor added that he thought Kelly would have acted in good faith.
Kelly is due to appear in court for the first time on Wednesday. More information is expected to be revealed at this time. Chief Castillo said the charges are subject to change as more information becomes available.
Bob Price works as an assistant editor and senior news writer for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is one of the original members of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s. What is your point of view? Sunday talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.
