Southwest
Arizona rancher says he stared down barrel of AK-47 when he fired warning shots 'over the trees'
Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly said men came towards his home with an AK-47 aimed at him the day he was arrested for murder.
“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,” Kelly told NewsNation.
Instead, he told the news outlet that he “shot over the tree, over the top of his head, and thank God him and the other guys ran.”
Later that day — Jan. 30, 2023 — he found a body and called the sheriff’s department. Responding officers accused Kelly of fatally shooting the victim, an illegal immigrant, and hauled him away in cuffs.
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George Alan Kelly enters court for his preliminary hearing in Nogales Justice Court in Nogales, Arizona, on Feb. 22, 2023. (Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool, File)
“He turned towards me … pointed the AK at me.”
His murder charge became the center of an already-contentious national debate about border security raging throughout the country, especially in states bordering Mexico.
“They accused me of shooting him,” Kelley told NewsNation in his first interview since he became a free man. “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.’”
JUDGE DECLARES MISTRIAL IN CASE OF ARIZONA RANCHER CHARGED WITH MURDER OF MEXICAN NATIONAL ON BORDER PROPERTY
The 75-year-old man spent 22 days in jail, which he said was the worst experience of his life. “If hell is anything like that, I’m gonna do everything I can not to go,” Kelly said.
Seven jurors wanted to acquit Kelly, but one “lone holdout” was unwavering in wanting to convict the elderly rancher despite the evidence and testimony, according to the rancher’s lawyer.
The judge declared the case a mistrial in April, and prosecutors said they won’t have a retrial.
George Alan Kelly exits the Santa Cruz County Courthouse with defense attorney Kathy Lowthorp in Nogales, Arizona, on March 22. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP, Pool)
“If hell is anything like that, I’m gonna do everything I can not to go.”
The victim was identified as Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, and prosecutors claimed he was unarmed.
But Kelly’s defense lawyers said prosecutors failed to prove Cuen-Buitimea was shot by Kelly’s gun. The forensics and the ballistics didn’t match Kelly’s gun, according to the defense.
ARIZONA RANCHER GEORGE ALAN KELLY DEFENSE SAYS ‘LONE HOLDOUT’ JUROR BLOCKED ACQUITTAL, STATE WEIGHS 2ND TRIAL
The fatal bullet was never recovered from the scene.
“I don’t feel that I was treated fairly in the investigation,” Kelly said. “I think I was arrested without cause, without probable cause.”
Judge Thomas Fink (right) walks out of the courtroom during proceedings in the trial of rancher George Kelly. (Fox News)
WATCH JUDGE WALK OUT:
Kelly said he feared for his wife’s safety and his own. The rancher’s wife, Wanda Kelly, testified during the trial that they were sitting on their patio when they saw armed men dressed in camouflage and carrying rifles and backpacks walking about 100 feet from their home.
ARIZONA RANCHER DEFENSE CONSULTANT CLAIMS ‘CARTEL INFLUENCE’ IN MURDER PROBE, RIPS SHERIFF’S PAST COMMENTS
Dr. Ron Martinelli, a criminologist working pro bono for Kelly’s defense team, accused the prosecutors of “extreme confirmation bias.”
“Just imagine being on an isolated ranch in your 70s. You and your wife. And you are frequently seeing armed incursions on your ranch,” Martinelli told Fox News Digital in a previous interview.
“It’s a war. We try to fight this war in an ethical, moral and legal way of doing it. But we can’t be obstructed by a degraded criminal justice and law enforcement system. We can’t allow that to happen in the United States of America. We want to be a free country.”
Now that the trial is over, Kelly and his wife want to “start life over again,” but it’s difficult after a costly trial.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink listens to opening arguments in the trial of George Alan Kelly in Nogales, Arizona, on March 22. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP, Pool)
“We have no funds,” Kelly said. “Our life savings, it’s gone.”
Martinelli said Kelly used about $2 million in personal funding and funding from their legal defense fund on GiveSendGo, an online fundraiser set up by the rancher’s wife.
George said that’s enough to keep them afloat for now, but he doesn’t know for how long.
“That cloud’s still over my head,” Kelly 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.”
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A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
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