Three men suspected of killing a tourist from New Zealand during an armed robbery at Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach on July 2 are expected to be arraigned in a Santa Ana courtroom Aug. 1.
Leroy Ernest Joseph McCrary, 26, of Los Angeles; Malachi Eddward Darnell, 18, of Los Angeles; and Jaden Cunningham, 18, of Lancaster, are accused of killing Patricia McKay, 68, who was visiting the mall with her husband.
During the upcoming arraignment, attorneys are expected to make arguments for bail for the defendants, who are being held without it in the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana.
The couple was waiting at the curb for a ride after they had finished shopping when a white Toyota Camry pulled up next to them, according to police.
Mr. Darnell and Mr. Cunningham allegedly jumped out of the car and attacked Ms. McKay’s 69-year-old husband, put a gun to his head and demanded his watch. The men allegedly forced him to the ground, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
When they were unable to get the watch, the two men allegedly attacked Ms. McKay. She was thrown to the ground and dragged into the street in front of a getaway car, which police say was driven by Mr. McCrary.
Her husband reportedly tried to stop his wife from being run over, but the driver accelerated, running her over and dragging her body.
Ms. McKay died at the scene, according to police.
A bystander, police said, attempted to stop one of the suspects from getting in the car. Mr. Darnell is accused of shooting a gun out of the car’s window at the bystander as the vehicle sped away.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said, in a press release July 5, the county’s shopping centers and malls have become “hunting grounds for criminals who are stalking innocent shoppers.”
He accused the governor and Legislature of not holding “anyone accountable for their actions.”
He said the Orange County community was extending its deepest sympathies to the McKay family and to all of New Zealand, and called Ms. McKay’s killing a “senseless death” that should have never happened.
“Lawlessness and violence will not be tolerated in our society,” Mr. Spitzer said.
The defendants appeared in court via video July 5 and in person on July 8 but did not enter pleas, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Attorneys for Mr. Darnell and Mr. Cunningham did not return requests for comment on deadline. The attorney for Mr. McCrary could not be reached Friday.
The three defendants will be eligible for possible death sentences if convicted and charged, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors say they will decide later whether to seek death or life without parole in the men’s respective cases.
The charges include a felony enhancement for causing the death of an elderly person over 65, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
In California, murder defendants can be sentenced to death if the crime occurred during a robbery involving a special circumstance.
Mr. McCrary, the alleged driver of the car, has a history of felony convictions in Los Angeles County for residential burglary in 2018, criminal threats in 2020, and robbery in 2023, according to authorities.
In the most recent case, he was arrested in January 2023 by Santa Monica police detectives in connection to an armed robbery. Police say Mr. McCrary and Donta Baker, of Los Angeles, pointed handguns at a man who was walking on the sidewalk on the 200 block of Broadway in Santa Monica. The two suspects robbed the man of his Rolex watch.
Prosecutors in that case agreed to a plea deal that spared Mr. McCrary prison time, according to reports. He pleaded no contest in April 2023 to robbery and was sentenced to three years.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, however, suspended the sentence and placed him on two years of probation. He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of community service, according to reports.
In the Fashion Island case, Mr. McCrary is additionally charged with one felony count of attempted second-degree robbery and one felony count of evading police while driving recklessly.
Mr. Darnell was also charged with two felony counts for second-degree attempted robbery and attempted murder and two additional felonies—due to enhancements—of use of a firearm and for its discharge.
Mr. Cunningham is also charged with one felony count of attempted second-degree robbery.
