No Retrail for 75-year-old Arizona Rancher who is accused of Killing an Unarmed Immigrant

Attorneys for the state of Arizona said Monday that they will not try George Alan Kelly, 75, again for killing an unarmed immigrant on his land near the U.S.-Mexico border.

At a status hearing, Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley said, “Because of the unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case, the Santa County Attorney’s office has decided not to seek a retrial.”

On Monday, the judge threw out the trial because the jury couldn’t agree on whether to charge Kelly with second-degree murder and aggravated assault. He said he wasn’t guilty.

A group of migrants who were trying to cross the border back into Mexico say Kelly shot them with his AK-47 from a long way away. Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48, was hit and killed. He was a worker who lived just across the border in Nogales, Mexico, and was looking for work.

The police were never able to find the bullet, and Kelly’s lawyers tried to show that someone else might have shot him. The area did not have any other weapons found.