Texas man detained in Las Vegas in deadly 2020 Nevada and Arizona shootings pleads guilty

LAS VEGAS – One of three suspects jailed in Las Vegas following deadly shootings in two states on Thanksgiving 2020, including the killing of a man at a southern Nevada convenience store and a shootout with authorities in the north -western Arizona, pleaded guilty.

Christopher McDonnell, 32, entered pleas Thursday to 23 felonies, including murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, weapons charges and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to Clark County District Court records.

He had been charged with 55 counts and his trial was scheduled for next month. A criminal charge of committing an act of terrorism was among the charges dropped as part of his plea deal.

“Christopher decided it was in his best interest to take responsibility for his actions,” his lawyer, Ryan Bashor, said Friday. McDonnell remains jailed without bail in Las Vegas. His plea was first reported by KLAS-TV.

McDonnell will be sentenced to life in prison with a wide range of parole eligibility – a minimum of 21 years and a maximum of 164 years, prosecutor Michael Schwartzer told The Associated Press, adding that he will seek a sentence “beyond (McDonnell’s) natural life sentence.”

Sentencing is scheduled for December 13. Bashor said he hoped to get a more lenient sentence.

The plea agreement does not require Christopher McDonnell to testify in a jury trial scheduled to begin Nov. 4 for his ex-wife, Kayleigh Lewis, 29, and her older brother, Shawn McDonnell, Schwartzer said.

Shawn McDonnell, 34, faces 54 counts, including committing terrorism, and faces the death penalty if convicted.

Lewis, 29, faces 53 charges, including terrorism, but does not face the death penalty.

Both remain jailed without bail. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Police and prosecutors say the 11-hour rampage began on Nov. 26, 2020, and included seemingly random shootings that killed Kevin Mendiola Jr. at a convenience store in Henderson, near Las Vegas, and drive-by shootings that injured several other people.

It ended near the Colorado River town of Parker, Arizona, after a chase involving Arizona Department of Public Safety officers crashed a car with a license plate of Texas and the wounding of Shawn McDonnell by soldiers brandishing assault rifles.

The three defendants, from Tyler, Texas, were returned to custody in Las Vegas, where a grand jury indicted them in March 2021.

Clark County Prosecutor Steve Wolfson said at the time that the crimes amounted to “heinous and random” acts of terrorism and an attempt to instill fear in the public.