Three men accused of carrying out a brazen attempted armed robbery at the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach, then fatally running over the female victim—a 68-year-old tourist from New Zealand—were charged July 5 with murder and other offenses.
Leroy Ernest Joseph McCrary, 26, of Compton; Jaden Cunningham, 18, of Lancaster; and Malachi Eddward Darnell, 18, of Los Angeles; would all be eligible for a possible death sentence if convicted as charged, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors will decide later whether to actually seek death in the case, or life without the possibility of parole.
