George Alan Kelly, an Arizona rancher, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges in connection with the January shooting of Gabriel Cuen-Butimea, a Mexican man, on his property.

The first-degree murder charge that prosecutors were seeking was downgraded to second-degree murder after public criticism. Kelly, who is 73 years old, was arraigned on Monday and his trial is set for September 6, despite his team wanting more time to fight the charges.

BREAKING: Charging documents released in Arizona rancher George Allen Kelly state accuses him of "hunting" illegal aliens, he claims self-defense from drug runnerspic.twitter.com/3YVOBpFI6l

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 24, 2023

On January 30, Kelly claimed he was being shot at by a group of Mexican men running through his property and called Border Patrol.

He allegedly fired warning shots above their heads, making sure he did not hit them. Authorities arrived and searched the property, court documents show, where they found nothing of note. Kelly would later find Cuen-Butimea’s body while out retrieving his horse, causing him to call police again. Kelly was arrested and held on $1 million bond.

Brenna Larkin, Kelly’s public defender, said that the leader of the group of men “pointed an AK-47 right at him” and that Kelly “reasonably feared for his safety, his wife’s safety, and his animals’ safety.” Larkin said, “Mr. Kelly, fearing for his life and safety, fired several shots from his rifle, hoping to scare them away from him, his wife, his animals, and his home.”

Prosecutors claimed that Kelly allegedly “hunted” the group on his property, with two witnesses from the group that they say posed “no threat” running back to the border after Kelly started shooting. The detective that interrogated Kelly after his arrest found an AK-47 shell casing on Kelly’s porch, and a former Border Patrol chief stated that the area is a hotspot for violence.

Former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott told NewsNation that the area is a hotspot for violence.

“Everything that I’ve seen, in my professional experience, would tell me that that guy was either a scout, or an actual guide for a group with a radio much more likely. He was probably scouting out in advance, or the frontman, if you will,” Scott said. “But that type of activity and behavior doesn’t take place out there. Unless it’s part of the cartel.”