An Arizona rancher charged with killing a Mexican migrant on his property near the southern border said he fired warning shots and never shot directly at the man or the armed group of suspected smugglers he was with.
George Alan Kelly, 73, is charged with first-degree murder in relation to the Jan. 30 death of Mexican national Gabriel Cuen-Butimea. In a court filing last week asking a judge to modify his bail, his court-appointed attorney, Brenna Larkin, said her client "admitted to firing warning shots at the smugglers earlier in the day, but denied firing any shot at any person.
"He does not believe that any of his warning shots could have possibly hit the person or caused the death," the filing states. "All the shooting that Mr. Kelly did on the date of the incident was in self-defense and justified."
ARIZONA RANCHER ACCUSED OF SHOOTING AND KILLING MIGRANT ON HIS RANCH TO REMAIN JAILED ON $1M BOND
The filing said Kelly was with his wife in their home in Nogales, a border city, when he "saw a group of men moving through the trees" while they were "armed with AK-47 rifles, dressed in khakis and camouflaged clothing, and carrying large backpacks."
The leader of the group saw Kelly and pointed an AK-47 at the home, it states.
"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," according to Kelly's attorney.
He called the U.S. Border Patrol after the incident. Larkin said the agent incorrectly reported that Kelly stated he couldn't tell if the men were armed or not, but that radio dispatchers correctly reported armed men had been seen in the area.
Later in the day, Kelly was checking on his horse when he found a body on the grass and called law enforcement. The filing states that authorities found the man, identified as Cuen-Butimea, with a single gunshot wound.
He did not have a backpack or firearms, authorities said.
Cuen-Butimea lived just south of the border and had been deported from the United States to Mexico several times. The most incident occurred in 2016, FOX Phoenix reported.
"Had Mr. Kelly truly murdered someone with premeditation, then he would have no incentive to call law enforcement and lead them to the body," the filing said. "On the contrary, he would have had every incentive to dispose of the body in the vast, isolated desert areas surrounding his property."
Fox News' Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
