Las Vegas Review-Journal

Death penalty will be sought for Thanksgivi­ng crime spree

- By David Ferrara

Prosecutor­s are pursuing capital punishment for one of three people charged with carrying out a twostate shooting spree on Thanksgivi­ng that left one man dead in Henderson and targeted nearly two dozen people.

Brothers Christophe­r and Shawn Mcdonnell, along with Kayleigh Lewis, all from Texas, each face 53 counts, including murder, attempted murder and terrorism.

Last week, prosecutor­s filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Shawn Mcdonnell, court records show.

He and Lewis were married in a Las Vegas wedding chapel just weeks before the shooting spree.

In one of the shootings, 22-yearold Kevin Mendiola Jr. of North Las Vegas was killed and three others were injured in front of a 7-Eleven on the 800 block of East Lake Mead Parkway in Henderson.

Four other shootings occurred on Henderson roads around the same time, according to a Henderson police report.

The crimes continued in the Parker, Arizona, area, where authoritie­s said five more shootings occurred before the trio from Tyler, Texas, were arrested.

Authoritie­s have said the Mcdonnells and Lewis had traveled as far as Washington, D.C., before returning west to the Las Vegas area.

Separately, Christophe­r Mcdonnell, who was on parole at the time of the shootings, faces a charge of ownership or possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Shawn Mcdonnell faces one count of resisting a public officer with use of a firearm.

All three defendants are being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center.

 ??  ?? Shawn Mcdonnell and Kayleigh Lewis
Shawn Mcdonnell and Kayleigh Lewis

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