Woman Calls Prosecutor 'Crazy' as Husband Accused of Shooting Migrant

The wife of an Arizona rancher charged with shooting a migrant on his property lashed out at prosecutors while on the stand on Wednesday.

"I was not counting," Wanda Kelly said from the stand about the number of gunshots she heard during the incident, according to video posted on X, formerly Twitter. "My husband was out there, facing these guys with guns. And you think I'm gonna stand there and count how many times I hear a shot? You're crazy."

In February, George Alan Kelly, 73, was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly shooting and killing 48-year-old migrant Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico. Cuen-Buitimea died on January 30 on Kelly's Nogales ranch.

Kelly pleaded not guilty on March 6 to charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault at the Santa Cruz Superior Court. He was offered a plea deal that would have reduced charges to one count of negligent homicide if he pleaded guilty, but he rejected it. Kelly's lead defense attorney Brenna Larkin has said that her client did fire rounds from an AK-47, but did not kill Cuen-Buitimea, according to the Associated Press.

Wanda Kelly, who according to local CBS affiliate KOLD-TV in Tucson has been married to her husband for 54 years, first told authorities in January after the incident that she heard five or six gunshots outside their home.

While on the stand on Wednesday, Santa Cruz County Chief Deputy Attorney Kim Hunley reportedly questioned her recalling of events based on Wanda Kelly telling deputies two months earlier that she had heard four gunshots.

Newsweek reached out via email to the Santa Cruz Attorney's Office and George Kelly defense attorney, Kathy Lowthorp.

When asked again, Wanda Kelly admitted she may have said five or six gunshots after the fact and didn't recall talking to the deputy. She was also asked if she couldn't tell the deputies apart, "except that one was a lady."

Hunley also disputed Wanda Kelly's initial telling of the situation to law enforcement, in which she said that there were five men—dressed in camouflage and donning large backpacks while carrying rifles—on their property on the day of the killing, when there were apparently only two.

An expert told Newsweek that witnesses should be believed when their stories change slightly following a traumatic event.

"[Wanda Kelly] should still be believed even if some of her facts are different from what she told authorities at the time of the shooting because she was emotionally devastated by watching her ranch be trespassed and her husband having to shoot the trespasser," forensic psychiatrist Carole Lieberman said via email. "She was terrified and traumatized at their lives being at risk. She went into shock and PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. It is a symptom of PTSD to forget details of the trauma."

Daniel Ramirez, who says he was with Cuen-Buitimea when he was allegedly shot and killed, was a main witness for the prosecution during the trial's opening arguments in late March.

Painted as a "humble" farmhand by Hunley, the defense was able to get Ramirez to admit he has previously smuggled marijuana into the United States, according to FOX 10 Phoenix.

Larkin poked holes into Ramirez's retelling of events—including that he previously and incorrectly asserted that Kelly's own horse had been shot during an exchange of gunfire, according to Nogales International.

Larkin also disputed the logistics of Ramirez's statements, that the shooting took place near the southern border wall—which she claimed made no sense considering that Kelly's ranch is located more than a mile north of the border.

"Nobody from law enforcement ever doubted or questioned (Ramirez's) story," Larkin said.

The trial is expected to conclude on April 19, according to FOX 10.

Update 4/4/24, 2:37 p.m. ET: The headline in this article was updated for clarity.

Update 4/4/24, 2:45 p.m. ET: The article has been updated to clarify the charges and Kelly's defense.