Lawyers in Orange County charged a third-time criminal and two other men with murder after they allegedly ran a car over a 68-year-old New Zealand woman and dragged her nearly 65 feet during a theft at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.
People started to wonder why McCrary hadn’t been sent to prison for his past felony convictions after what happened on Tuesday.
Since 2019, California has not carried out the death sentence and has not put anyone to death since 2006.
They also say McCrary tried to rob someone in the second degree and sped away while driving dangerously. He had been found guilty of theft of a dwelling in 2018, criminal threats in 2020, and robbery in 2023, all in L.A. County. According to records, he was also found guilty of drug abuse while in control of a firearm in 2023.
Along with the murder charge, Darnell is also being charged with attempted murder, attempted robbery, personal use of a firearm, and personal firing of a firearm, which is a felony.
Besides murder, Cunningham is also accused of trying to rob someone in the second degree.
Patricia McKay and her husband, the famous businessman and leader Douglas McKay from Auckland, were waiting for a ride after shopping at Fashion Island in Newport Beach on Tuesday. A white Toyota Camry pulled up next to them outside the mall, and two men in masks jumped out. Police say one of the men held a gun to Douglas McKay’s head and demanded his watch as they threw him to the ground.
People say that Cunningham threw Patricia McKay to the ground while she was holding a bunch of shopping bags and then pulled her out into the street in front of the Camry while taking the bags.
Douglas McKay jumped in front of the car to keep it from hitting his wife, but McCrary is said to have driven it forward, pushing McKay out of the way and hitting the woman. The woman’s body was then dragged 65 feet under the car.
As Cunningham ran after the getaway car, another man who wanted to help him did the same. That’s when Darnell, who was back in the car, is said to have fired three shots at the kind person.
As the Camry sped north after the accident, cops chased it at speeds of up to 110 mph. A news helicopter caught video of the car going fast on the left side of the 105 Freeway and hitting the concrete median at one point.
After Cunningham got out of the car in the city of Cypress, he was caught. Later, McCray and Darnell were caught in South Gate. On Friday, all three of the suspects were being held without bail.
In a statement announcing the charges, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said, “Our whole community sends its deepest condolences to Patricia McKay’s family and to the whole country of New Zealand as we mourn her senseless death in the commission of a crime that should have never happened.” “We will not stand for lawlessness and violence in our society.”
Christopher Luxon, the prime minister of New Zealand, called Patricia McKay’s death “an absolute tragedy” and sent his sympathies to her family, whom he knew personally. Doug McKay is a well-known energy and business executive who was chair of the Bank of New Zealand for a number of years and the first CEO of the Aukland Council, which was formed in 2010 to help the region’s “supercity.”
There are no words to describe how sad the McKay family is as they try to come to terms with the death of Patricia, their mother, wife, and friend. Please give us space while we work through this as a family.
The year was 2023, and McCrary pleaded not guilty to robbery and drug possession with a firearm charge. He got two years of probation and three years of state jail that would not be served.
When asked why McCrary wasn’t in jail, the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement, “The case against [him] had significant problems with proof.” Because of these problems, the Airport Court’s management team agreed to a plea deal that put Mr. McCrary on probation and suspended his state prison term.
In any case, the District Attorney’s Office said that McCrary’s most recent acts were “reprehensible.”
Spitzer, the prosecutor for Orange County, said that Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California Democrats were partly to blame for the charges that were brought this week.
In a statement, he said, “Our shopping malls and centers have become nests for thieves who are stalking innocent shoppers to rob them blind because our Governor and our Legislature refuse to hold anyone accountable for their actions.”
