A GoFundMe fundraising page for the 73-year-old Arizona rancher jailed on a $1 million bond after being charged with murdering a migrant on his ranch has been removed by the platform.
The attempts to raise money for George Allen Kelly’s bond and legal defense have now been thwarted by the fundraising platform, leaving his future hanging in the balance.
As Brietbart reported, a judge in Santa Cruz County denied a request from Kelly to lower his bond in the case involving the alleged murder of a Mexican migrant, 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Butimea.
The judge told Kelly his attorney would have to file for a bond-reduction hearing.
Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Gerardo Castillo said the shooting occurred on the border ranch in an area that was not close to the residence, according to an interview with Breitbart Texas.
As The Daily Mail reported, the shooting occurred about 150 yards away from the rancher’s home, where the Mexican national, with a long history of illegal immigration and deportations, died.
Supporters of the Arizona rancher set up a fundraising page on GoFundMe to help with his legal fees, but the organization took down those pages.
Supporters have now turned to GiveSendGo.com and successfully created a page to raise money for Kelly’s bond and legal defense.
Almost $150,000 has since been raised.
Kelly begged the judge for a reduced bond, saying his wife was home alone and could not care for the cattle on his ranch.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Kelly told the judge. “I can’t come up with a million dollars.”
Kelly’s court-appointed attorney, Brenna Larkin, has not yet entered a bail reduction motion for the defendant and has not responded to requests for more information.
Police identified the decedent after recovering a Mexican voter registration card on his person.
According to federal court records reported by the Daily Mail, Cuen-Butimea has a history of illegally crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. multiple times,
As The Daily Mail reports:
And just hours before the fatal shooting, Nogales International reports, U.S. Border Patrol agents informed the county sheriff’s department of a ‘possible active shooter’ at the scene, with a man identifying himself as ‘Allen’ saying he was not sure if he was getting shot himself.
Investigators did not find any weapons in the decedent’s possession, Chief Castillo said.
Meanwhile, a neighbor told KOLD 13 News that he is friends with Kelly and that Kelly has had problems with people on his property in the past, adding that Kelly would have acted with good faith.
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Court appointed public pretender needs to be sued, disbarred and called out. Let’s get this family the help they need. He had EVERY RIGHT TO DO WHAT HE DID.
FIGHT!