(NewsNation) — Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly says he and his wife are trying to “start life over again” after his trial in the fatal shooting of a Mexican national on his property along the southern border ended in a deadlocked jury.
“It’s not my fault. I didn’t do it,” Kelly told NewsNation in an interview days after Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink declared a mistrial. “Somebody else is responsible for that.”
Kelly recounted the events of Jan. 30, 2023, saying he saw men coming toward his house and one raising a weapon.
“He turned towards me … pointed the AK at me. And that’s when — everybody says was the dumbest thing I ever did — they said you should have shot him because he was getting ready to shoot you,” he said.
“I don’t know why, but I said, ‘Nah, I’m not gonna do it’. I shot over the trees, over the top of his head, and thank God him and the other guys ran.”
Later, when trying to get his dogs away from what he thought was a skunk, he found a body, and called the sheriff’s department.
“They accused me of shooting him. I said, ‘No, I didn’t shoot him.’ And they said, ‘Well, we think you did, and we’re arresting you for first-degree murder.’”
That led to 22 days in jail, what Kelly calls the worst days of his life: “If hell is anything like that, I’m gonna do everything I can not to go.”
“I don’t feel that I was treated fairly in the investigation. I think I was arrested without cause, without probable cause.”
Kelly, 75, was charged in connection to the death of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, an unarmed migrant. Second-degree murder and aggravated assault charges against Kelly killing have now been dropped after prosecutors chose not to retry his case.
Cuen-Buitimea, 48, had lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico, and had been with a group of men Kelly encountered on his property last year.
Prosecutor Mike Jette said Kelly recklessly fired an AK-47 rifle toward the group that was about 100 yards away. While the rancher admitted to firing warning shots in the air, Kelly maintains he didn’t shoot directly at anyone. The other migrants on Kelly’s ranch in 2023 weren’t injured and escaped back to Mexico.
Kelly discovered the body after detectives scoured the area but no bullet was ever recovered.
At the time, Kelly said, he feared for his safety and that of his wife and property. He still has the same concerns because of the situation at the U.S./Mexico border. A neighbor living on Kelly’s road told NewsNation that Border Patrol responded to the Kelly ranch at least 30 times in March.
“I’ve lived in a place like this all my life,” Kelly said. “I’m not afraid to exist here. But I know that it’s a definite risk.”
Making a new start has been made harder because of all his legal challenges. Kelly said, “We have no funds.”
“Our life savings, it’s gone,” he said.
Unbeknownst to Kelly, his wife set up a fundraiser through the Christian website GiveSendGo to help pay for attorneys as well as other legal fees. People donated anywhere from $2 to $10,000, Kelly said.
That’s enough to keep them afloat, Kelly said, but he added there’s still a long battle ahead of him.
“That cloud’s still over my head,” he said. “It’s a long road, and we’re not out of danger yet, but we’re not giving up. I’m not going to let them beat me down.”
NewsNation digital producer Damita Menezes, field producer Travis Harrison and The Associated Press contributed to this article.