George Alan Kelly, the border rancher charged with murder in the shooting death of a Mexican national on his land near Nogales, posted bond and was released from jail Wednesday afternoon, according to the Santa Cruz County Detention Center.
Kelly, 74, was arrested after Santa Cruz County sheriffβs deputies found the body Jan. 30 on Kellyβs property, close to the U.S.-Mexico border. The man had been fatally shot. Prosecutors contend Kelly shot the unarmed man in the back in an unprovoked attack, and they say there are two other victims who survived. The rancherβs defense attorney counters that a group of armed men approached Kelly on his land and that he only fired a warning shot.
During a hearing Wednesday in Nogales, a judge agreed to change Kellyβs $1 million cash bond to a surety bond of the same amount, meaning a bail bondsman could post bail.
As part of the conditions of release, Kelly is prohibited from possessing firearms, drinking alcohol, contacting any victims in the case or leaving the state without written permission from the court. He is also required to submit to drug and alcohol testing if required by the court.
There were two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, related to the two other alleged victims, added to the murder charge against Kelly on Tuesday.
The prosecution alleges there was a group of seven to eight undocumented migrants traveling north through Kellyβs land, unarmed, and that he shot at them without warning or provocation, fatally shooting 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen Buitimea in the back as he ran away.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty. His defense says he saw a group of men on his property carrying AK-47s, wearing khakis and camouflaged clothing and carrying large backpacks, and that he fired a warning shot above their heads.
An evidentiary hearing in Kellyβs case is scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m. in Nogales.
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