Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea was among a group of migrants crossing the border into Arizona when rancher George Alan Kelly fired his AK-47, killing the 48-year-old man Jan. 30 last year, according to authorities.
The migrants were unarmed when they had wandered onto Kelly’s 170-acre cattle ranch in the Kino Springs area, according to authorities.
Kelly shot from about 100 yards away, fatally striking Cuen-Buitimea.
No one else was injured and the other migrants dashed back to the Mexican side of the border.
The 75-year-old rancher — who is charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault, according to court records — declined a plea deal from prosecutors that would have reduced the charges to a single count of negligent homicide with an eight year prison sentence attached.
Kelly’s defense lawyer, Brenna Larkin, virtually appeared at the Wednesday hearing in Arizona’s Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
‘We have discussed that plea with Mr. Kelly,’ she told the judge, on behalf of the rancher who also attended virtually.
‘It is his intention to reject that plea.’
If convicted of the original charges, Kelly — who pleaded not guilty March 6 — could now face as much as 24 and a half years behind bars.
Larkin has argued to the court that Kelly fired the shots in the air because he was in fear of his safety and the security of his wife and property.
