Migrant shot dead on Arizona rancher’s property identified, family from Mexico demands ‘justice’

The identity of an illegal alien fatally shot after crossing onto an Arizona rancher’s property has been confirmed, and as his family in Mexico mourned the loss, a promise of “justice” was put forth.

Initial details on the death of 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Butimea were sparse as authorities only suspected his identity based on a voter registration card located with the decedent’s effects. Since then, family members have taken to social media to react to the death of their loved one as a funeral was held Monday night.

Images from Facebook and Instagram show mourners gathered around a casket with the caption of one roughly translating to “Your babies will love you forever dad.”

Cuen-Butimea's family mourned him in Nogales on Monday night. He died of a single gunshot wound.     Cuen-Butimea's family mourned him in Nogales on Monday night. He died of a single gunshot wound

Others depicted the man as he was in life, a crucifix necklace displayed as he posed beside an SUV with a drink in his hand and another, again with a vehicle, wearing a button-down shirt and a cowboy hat.

Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, 48, was shot on Monday January 30th by 73-year-old rancher George Alan Kelly, after crossing onto Kelly's land in Kino Springs, a remote area of Arizona just 1.5miles from the border

It remains unclear why the 48-year-old had crossed illegally onto Kelly's land, or if he'd done it before. He had been deported several times before, the most recent of which was in 2016.     It remains unclear why the 48-year-old had crossed illegally onto Kelly's land, or if he'd done it before. He had been deported several times before, the most recent of which was in 2016

As previously reported, Cuen-Butimea was allegedly shot once by 73-year-old rancher George Alan Kelly when the Mexican national had crossed into the United States and made his way onto Kelly’s property about a mile and a half north of the border in Kino Springs, Arizona.

The arrested rancher was held on $1 million bond over the incident which left the decedent’s body found by Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office deputies between 100 and 150 feet away from the home he shares with his wife.

According to a report from the Daily Mail, a woman identified as Cuen-Butimea’s daughter held up an image of Kelly’s mugshot and said, “We will get justice for you, daddy, I promise.”

When the suspect first appeared in court on January 31, he pleaded with Justice of the Peace Emilio Velasquez to lower the bond from $1 million to something that he might actually be able to pay. As he explained, his wife and their property had no one else to look after them, “She’s there by herself … nobody to take care of her, the livestock. Or the ranch. And I’m not going anywhere. I can’t come up with a million dollars. Is there… Would you consider reducing it to any degree?”

The amount was left unchanged as Kelly faces a first-degree murder charge. Arizona does have Stand Your Ground laws, but they stipulate that “a person is justified in threatening or using physical force against another when, and to the extent a reasonable person would believe that physical force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful physical force.”

As the investigation remains active and ongoing, it remains unclear what if anything transpired between Kelly and Cuen-Butimea before the victim was shot. A neighbor did tell 13 News that this was not the first time the rancher had experienced trouble with trespassers on his land.

In fact, Kelly reportedly authored a short book titled “Far Beyond the Border Fence” with characters named after himself, his wife, and their ranch, all about the “Mexican Border/Drug conflict.” Contained within, the character of George and his ranch foreman, “had to patrol the ranch daily, armed with AK-47s.”

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Kevin Haggerty

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles