Three arrests have been made following the killing of a New Zealand tourist Tuesday outside of the Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Calif. The investigation into the fatality near the luxury shopping center continues.
The victim of what officials at the Newport Beach Police Department have described as an attempted robbery was Patricia McKay, a 68-year-old visitor. She and her husband, whose name was not shared by the NBPD, were walking outside the shopping center Tuesday afternoon, when two men approached them in the area of Santa Rosa Drive and Newport Center Drive. At the time of the robbery, McKay was struck by a white sedan that was driven by the third suspect. Police were notified by several 911 calls.
McKay died at the scene. During the robbery, three shots were fired from one suspect’s handgun, but no injuries were reported, according to the NBPD. The three suspects had fled the scene in the white sedan.
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As Orange County’s leading shopping center, Fashion Island houses such retailers as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, AG, Allbirds and Dick’s Sporting Goods, as well as restaurants and other businesses. A media request to the Irvine Co., the owner of Fashion Island, inquiring whether security measures have been altered in response to Tuesday afternoon’s fatality outdoors, were not acknowledged Friday afternoon.
New Zealand’s prime minister Christoper Luxon shared his condolences with McKay’s family “after the devastating loss of Trish” via X.
In an issued statement, Sen. Dave Min (D-Calif.) commended local law enforcement for quickly apprehending the suspects and vowed to continue to do all he can “as a state legislator to enhance and improve public safety. We cannot rest until we fully address the twin epidemics of gun violence and rising crime.”
Although this incident occurred outdoors and is still under investigation, retail crime including shoplifting and organized retail crime remain concerns with many chains and independent stores in major cities throughout the U.S. More recently in New York City, a spate of robberies in popular restaurants in the West Village and Greenpoint among other neighborhoods has rattled diners. Spanning five weeks, a few of those incidents reportedly involved a gun.
NBPD officers located the suspects’ vehicle as it fled the scene and had attempted a traffic stop. But the suspects refused to stop and the chase ensued on the northbound 405 freeway, according to the NBPD. The pursuit on the highway involved assistance from the Huntington Beach Police Department’s airship HB1, California Highway Patrol, the Los Alamitos, Cypress, Westminster, Southgate and Garden Grove Police Departments, the Orange County Sheriff’s Departments and ATF, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
During the chase, the suspects’ vehicle stopped in Cypress, where one suspect fled on foot and was soon located and was arrested. After the other two suspects drove the white sedan into Los Angeles County and abandoned the vehicle, fleeing on foot, they were arrested by responding officers.
The three suspects are being held in the NBPD jail and face charges of homicide, robbery with a firearm and conspiracy. They are all Californians — Leroyernest McCrary, a 26 year-old Compton resident; Jaden Cunningham, an 18-year-old Lancaster resident, and Malachi Darnell, an 18-year-old Los Angeles resident.
With the investigation still active, the NBPD requests that anyone with any information, who has not been contacted by any officers, to contact Det. Kyle Markwald.
