Tragic robbery at Fashion Island Mall ends in fatal shooting

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., July 2—A Good Samaritan who tried to help during a robbery at Fashion Island regrets he couldn't do more to prevent the tragedy. Beau Bayless, 43, of Fountain Valley, was outside Sushi Roku when he heard a woman being robbed near Barnes & Noble.ore.

Beau Bayless was relaxing outside Sushi Roku when he heard a commotion near Barnes & Noble. Someone yelled about a robbery, and Bayless spotted a woman struggling with two men over her purse. He jumped in to help. “It could be someone’s grandma, could be someone’s mom,” Bayless said. “She needed help.”

By the time Bayless got there, three men had attacked Patricia McKay, a Kiwi tourist in her late 60s. The assailants ran her over and dragged her 65 feet with their car, killing her on the spot.

Chaos ensued, but Bayless managed to tackle one of the criminals. Then another attacker started shooting, and Bayless had to let the man go. The trio then fled in a white Toyota Camry.

The Newport Beach Police Department later arrested the suspects in Cypress and South Gate. Leroy Ernest Joseph McCrary, 26, Malachi Eddward Darnell, 18, and Jaden Cunningham, 18, were charged with special-circumstances murder and other felonies, including attempted robbery.

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the suspects initially targeted McKay’s 69-year-old husband, pointing a gun at his head and demanding his watch. When that attempt failed, they turned their attention to McKay, who was holding shopping bags.

Bayless recounted the horrifying sequence of events, describing how the driver of the Camry, identified as McCrary, hit McKay once, causing her to fall. McKay’s husband tried to intervene, but the suspects accelerated again, running over McKay.

As the suspects attempted to flee, Bayless managed to tackle one of them. However, he was forced to let go when another suspect fired a shot in his direction. “I saw the barrel and realized he was shooting at me, and I knew I had to let him go,” Bayless recalled.

Bayless is distraught about what happened, wishing he could’ve done more to stop it. Despite the danger he faced, Bayless remains focused on the victims and their family. “Anything that’s going to help that poor family,” he said. “I feel so bad for all of them.”

This incident has everyone concerned about safety at Fashion Island after this tourist was killed. 

These criminals are headed to court for murder charges, with additional time added for killing an elderly woman. Since it happened during a robbery, they might even face the death penalty.