Three charged with murder after tourist killed at Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach; suspects face death penalty, prosecutor says

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — Three men have been charged with murder and other crimes in connection with the death of a New Zealand tourist who was fatally run over during an attempted robbery at the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach, prosecutors said Friday.

Leroy Ernest Joseph McCrary, 26, of Los Angeles, Malachi Eddward Darnell, 18, of Los Angeles, and Jaden Cunningham, 18, of Lancaster, “are eligible for the death penalty if convicted of the special-circumstances murder of Patricia McKay, 68, during a capital robbery of a person over 65 years of age,” the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

In addition to the special circumstances murder charge, McCrary was charged with one count of attempted second-degree robbery and one count of fleeing while driving recklessly. McCrary has previous convictions for residential burglary in 2018, criminal threats in 2020 and theft in 2023, all in Los Angeles County, the statement said.

Darnell was also charged with one count of attempted second-degree robbery, one count of attempted murder, one count of personal use of a firearm and one count of personal use of a firearm, the prosecutor’s office said. Cunningham was also charged with one count of attempted second-degree robbery.

In a statement, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer expressed his condolences to McKay’s family “and to the entire country of New Zealand as we mourn his senseless death in the commission of a crime that should never have happened.”

“Actions have consequences and it shouldn’t take the death of an elderly woman enjoying a day of shopping with her husband for our elected officials in Sacramento to realize that this is the result of their soft-on-crime policies that encourage crime while sacrificing public safety,” Spitzer added. “This is Orange County and we refuse to accept that this is the new normal.”

According to police and prosecutors, Darnell and Cunningham, both wearing masks, approached McKay and her husband as they walked outside the Barnes. & Noble store at Fashion Island.

One of the suspects pointed a gun at McKay’s 69-year-old husband’s head and demanded his watch as they wrestled him to the ground, prosecutors said. When the suspects failed to retrieve the watch, they allegedly turned their attention to McKay, who was holding several bags of groceries.

Cunningham is accused of dragging McKay into the street in front of a getaway car driven by McCrary.

According to the prosecutor’s office, McKay’s husband jumped in front of the vehicle to try to protect his wife, but McCrary, with Darnell back in the vehicle, accelerated and forced the husband out of the way, then ran over McKay, trapping her under the vehicle and dragging her 65 feet.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cunningham was still on foot and running toward the moving vehicle, pursued by a good Samaritan, prompting Darnell to fire several shots from inside the car toward the pursuer. No one was hit by the gunfire.

Cunningham eventually managed to get into the vehicle and the trio drove off.

The suspects prompted authorities to chase them north on the 405 Freeway. During the chase, the driver stopped in the Cypress area and Cunningham jumped out of the car but was later apprehended, prosecutors said. The other two suspects continued the chase to South Gate, where they were both arrested.

McKay’s husband was not seriously injured in the robbery, police said.

City News Service contributed to this report.