George Alan Kelly stands accused of second-degree murder and aggravated assault in the shooting death of an illegal Mexican immigrant.
NOGALES, Ariz.—Prosecutors in the second-degree murder trial of Arizona ranch owner George Alan Kelly called as their first witness an illegal immigrant who has been deported from the United States nearly a dozen times, once for illegally smuggling drugs into the country.
Honduran national Daniel Alberto Ramirez, 43, testified in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on March 27 that he saw the victim, Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, shot and killed by what he believes was an AK-47 rifle on Mr. Kelly’s property.
Mr. Ramirez also testified that he had no idea there was a legal immigration process before paying criminal Mexican guides, known as “coyotes,” $25,000 for 10 illegal entries, two of which failed.
In 2014, immigration officials charged him with illegally transporting marijuana into the country before deporting him later that year after his conviction.
Mr. Ramirez told a 12-member jury that on the afternoon of the shooting, Jan. 30, 2023, he’d been traveling with a group of nine illegal immigrants, including the victim, when they encountered a passing Border Patrol vehicle after crossing the border.
The group scattered and headed back toward the U.S.–Mexico border wall located to the south. However, Mr. Ramirez said he and the victim remained together, dumping bottles of water from their backpacks to lighten their load, and continued walking.
Mr. Ramirez testified that both he and Mr. Cuen-Buitimea, a Mexican national, had entered the country illegally to look for jobs as roofers and construction workers in the Phoenix area and pursue “the American Dream.”
Eventually, they found their way onto a dirt road along a wire fence line when, at about 2:30 p.m., they encountered a hail of gunfire from the direction of Mr. Kelly’s house.
One of the bullets allegedly struck Mr. Cuen-Buitimea, 48, in the lower back and exited his chest.
Through Spanish-language interpreters, Mr. Ramirez testified that he watched Mr. Cuen-Buitimea grab his chest and cry out, “I’m hit,” before collapsing face up in the dirt. He died shortly after.
By Allan Stein
