LAS VEGAS (AP) — Considered one of three suspects jailed in Las Vegas following a lethal two-state shooting rampage on Thanksgiving 2020, together with the killing of a person at a comfort retailer in southern Nevada and a shootout with authorities in northwestern Arizona, has pleaded responsible.
Christopher McDonnell, 32, entered his pleas Thursday to 23 felonies, together with homicide, tried homicide, homicide conspiracy, weapon prices and being a felon illegally in possession of a firearm, in keeping with Clark County District Court docket data.
He had been indicted on 55 counts, and his trial had been scheduled for subsequent month. A felony cost of committing an act of terrorism was amongst counts dropped as a part of his plea settlement.
“Christopher determined taking accountability for his actions was in his greatest curiosity,” his lawyer, Ryan Bashor, mentioned Friday. McDonnell stays jailed with out bail in Las Vegas. His plea was first reported by KLAS-TV.
McDonnell will face life in jail with a broad vary of parole eligibility — a minimal of 21 years and a most 164 years, prosecutor Michael Schwartzer advised The Related Press, including that he’ll search a sentence “past (McDonnell’s) pure life time period.”
Sentencing is scheduled Dec. 13. Bashor mentioned he hopes to win a extra lenient sentence.
The plea settlement doesn’t require Christopher McDonnell to testify at a jury trial set to start Nov. 4 for his former spouse, Kayleigh Lewis, 29, and his older brother, Shawn McDonnell, Schwartzer mentioned.
Shawn McDonnell, 34, faces 54 felony prices together with committing an act of terror and will face the demise penalty if convicted.
Lewis, 29, faces 53 felony prices additionally together with an act of terror, however won’t face a attainable a demise sentence.
Each stay jailed with out bail. Their protection attorneys didn’t instantly reply to messages searching for remark.
Police and prosecutors say the 11-hour rampage started Nov. 26, 2020, and included apparently random shootings that killed Kevin Mendiola Jr. at a comfort retailer in Henderson, close to Las Vegas, and drive-by gunfire that wounded a number of different individuals.
It ended close to the Colorado River city of Parker, Arizona, after a chase involving officers from the Arizona Division of Public Security, the crash of a automotive with a Texas license plate and the wounding of Shawn McDonnell by troopers wielding assault-style rifles.
The three defendants, initially from Tyler, Texas, had been returned in custody to Las Vegas, the place a grand jury indicted them in March 2021.
Clark County District Legal professional Steve Wolfson mentioned on the time that the crimes amounted to “heinous and random” terrorist acts and an try to trigger widespread concern within the public.
