Texas couple to face prosecution in Nevada in Thanksgiving rampage
Formal charges, including murder, have been filed in Nevada against a newlywed couple who authorities say carried out a two-state shooting spree alongside a family member on Thanksgiving Day.
Shawn McDonnell, 30, and Kayleigh Lewis, 25, were charged Monday in Henderson Justice Court, records show. They are awaiting extradition to Nevada, where they will join McDonnell’s younger brother, Christopher, who has been in Henderson police custody since the trio’s arrests on Thanksgiving Day in rural Arizona.
Authorities have linked the trio from Tyler, Texas, to at least 11 shootings and the beating of a woman with a baseball bat between Southern Nevada and Bouse, Arizona. Their rampage began 37 minutes into Thanksgiving Day just outside Las Vegas city limits in Henderson, according to police records, and ended 11 hours later after a police chase and a rollover crash and after Shawn McDonnell was struck by Arizona police gunfire.
The suspects were separated following their capture. Christopher McDonnell, 28, was flown to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas for injuries he suffered in the rollover crash, while his brother and sister-in-law were hospitalized in Arizona, where they initially were charged. But on Friday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that his office would take the lead in prosecuting the trio.
Each faces 20 felony counts, ranging from open murder and attempted murder to discharging a firearm into a vehicle and battery with a deadly weapon, according to the records. The Clark County district attorney’s office also has said it is pursuing possible terrorism and hate crime charges against the trio. If convicted of murder, they could be sentenced to life in prison or death.
Last week, the Review-Journal was the first media outlet to report that Shawn McDonnell and Kayleigh Lewis had gotten married at a downtown Las Vegas chapel in early November. After the ceremony, the couple embarked on a weekslong joyride across the country with Christopher McDonnell, traveling as far as Washington, D.C., before returning west to Nevada.
Somewhere along the way, according to Wolfson, the trio crafted a plan for a series of shootings that appeared to be random, although Wolfson has said details eventually will be revealed about how they chose their victims.
Most of the shootings were vehicle-to-vehicle, but the most-violent attack unfolded shortly after 12:50 a.m. on Thanksgiving in front of a 7-Eleven in Henderson. The gunfire lasted six minutes and left one dead — Kevin Mendiola Jr., 22, of North Las Vegas — and four others injured, including Mendiola’s girlfriend and younger brother.
One of the victims told the Review-Journal last week that the trio showed no remorse during the shootings.
“I stared down the barrel of his gun, and I swear it was like time slowed down,” said Andrew Muniz. “It’s like what you would see in the movies.”
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.
