Three men charged with the murder of a 68-year-old New Zealand woman who was dragged to her death during an attempted robbery at the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach appeared in a Santa Ana court on Wednesday and were ordered held without bail.
Prosecutors charged Leroy Ernest Joseph McCrary, 26, of Los Angeles; Malachi Eddward Darnell, 18, also of Los Angeles; and Jaden Cunningham, 18, of Lancaster, with murder with special circumstances. The trio could be sentenced to death if convicted of killing Patricia “Trish” McKay in the commission of a robbery, with a felony enhancement of causing the death of a person over 65. California has had a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty since 2019 and has not executed anyone since 2006.
The three men, wearing orange prison shirts over white T-shirts, appeared in a protective enclosure with a metal screen separating them from court officials and the public. Through their attorneys, they agreed to postpone entering a plea to the charges until Aug. 1.
During the proceedings, all three looked around at family and friends in the Santa Ana courtroom. Darnell blew a kiss to someone in the audience.
McCrary, the alleged leader of the armed robbery ring who Orange County prosecutors say was behind the wheel of the Toyota Camry that dragged McKay 65 feet, has a lengthy criminal history, according to court records.
In 2020, he was convicted in a case of criminal threats, a felony. Last year, he pleaded guilty to being addicted to narcotics and possessing a firearm, and was convicted in another robbery case for stealing a Rolex from a man at gunpoint in Santa Monica.
He avoided prison time in the latest case after prosecutors agreed to suspend a three-year sentence, which was to be served concurrently with his sentence in the gun possession case, according to interviews and records reviewed by The Times.
Police have set up a crime scene at the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach after a tourist was killed in an attempted robbery on July 2.
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In addition to the murder charge against him, McCrary also faces charges of attempted second-degree robbery and evading while driving recklessly. Darnell faces charges of attempted second-degree robbery, attempted murder and personal use of a firearm, as well as aggravated felony personal discharge of a firearm. Cunningham is also charged with attempted second-degree robbery in addition to murder.
Patricia McKay and her husband Douglas McKay, a well-known Auckland businessman, were waiting for a ride after shopping at Fashion Island in Newport Beach on July 2 when a white Toyota Camry pulled up next to the mall and two men wearing masks jumped out. One of the men put a gun to Douglas McKay’s head and demanded he hand over his watch as they forced him to the ground, prosecutors say.
Cunningham is accused of throwing Trish McKay to the ground while holding several shopping bags and then dragging her into the street in front of the Camry while trying to snatch her shopping bags.
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1. From left, Jaden Cunningham, Leroy McCrary and Malachi Darnell wait in court Wednesday on charges of killing a woman during an attempted robbery outside the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Her husband jumped in front of the vehicle in an attempt to stop it from hitting his wife, but authorities say McCrary drove forward, pushing it out of the way and running over the woman, then dragging her body 65 feet beneath the car.
As Cunningham ran after the getaway car, another man who tried to intervene chased him. Darnell, who was already inside the car by then, is accused of firing three shots at the good Samaritan.
Witnesses called 911 and police pursued the Camry as it sped north toward Los Angeles County, reaching speeds of up to 110 mph. A television news helicopter captured video of the car speeding along the left shoulder of the 105 Freeway and at one point skimming the concrete median.
Cunningham was arrested after exiting the vehicle in the town of Cypress. McCrary and Darnell were later arrested in South Gate.
“Our entire community extends its deepest condolences to the loved ones of Patricia McKay and the entire country of New Zealand as we mourn her senseless death in the commission of a crime that should never have happened,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement announcing the charges against the trio last week. “Lawlessness and violence will not be tolerated in our society.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called Trish McKay’s death “an absolute tragedy” and offered his condolences to the family members, whom he knows personally. Doug McKay is a prominent energy and business executive who served for several years as chairman of the Bank of New Zealand and for three years as the first chief executive of Auckland Council, created in 2010 for the region’s “supercity.”
In a statement, the McKay family said: “There are no words that can express our sadness as we try to come to terms with the loss of our mother, wife and friend Patricia. We ask for privacy at this time as we work through this as a family.”
Times photographer Allen J. Schaben contributed to this report.
