Man sentenced to 100 years for deadly 2-state rampage

homesafetytechpros — Sun, 15 Dec 2024 03:04:05 +0000

Inset: Christopher McDonnell (Henderson Police Department via KLAS). Background: The location of a deadly shooting in Henderson, Nevada (KLAS).

A troubled Texas man with a distinctive skull face tattoo was sentenced to 100 years in prison for an 11-hour shooting rampage targeting motorists on freeways and roads in two states that killed a man and wounded several others.

Christopher McDonnell, 32, learned his fate on Friday in the death of Kevin Mendiola Jr., 22. McDonnell pleaded guilty but mentally ill in October to charges of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder and discharging a firearm at or into an occupied vehicle.

He, his brother and his brother’s then-wife were indicted in connection with their 2020 Thanksgiving Day shooting spree that began in Nevada and ended in Arizona, where the defendants were apprehended when the car they were in rolled over.

The family spoke out about the pain.

“The hurt, the pain, the guilt and the stress that these three individuals put on my family,” said Mendiola’s brother, also wounded in the attack. “Our lives will never be the same after this.”

In a written statement, McConnell took responsibility, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

“I take full responsibility for my own wrongdoings, and I appreciate the court’s for administering justice,” McDonnell said, local CBS affiliate KLAS reported.

His public defender, Ryan Bashor, said Friday his client was a “troubled, troubled person.” He asked the court to sentence him to between 21 and 52 years in prison.

But prosecutors pushed for the maximum.

“The heinous and random nature of these crimes threatened many unsuspecting citizens in our community,” said Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson in the press release announcing the indictment. “This act of mass violence left both physical and emotional scars on the victims and their families, and our thoughts and prayers are with them.”

Prosecutors said McConnell’s brother’s then-wife was the driver as the two brothers fired indiscriminately out of the vehicle’s windows at cars and into a 7-Eleven in Henderson, Nevada, on Nov. 26, 2020, killing Mendiola in a vehicle.

A fourth victim was at the store with his daughter and 1-year-old grandchild.

He died shielding bullets from his girlfriend, Jayde Libby, who said it was “the most heroic thing one could ever do” at Friday’s sentencing.

“He saved me, and I’ll never know why,” she added.

Another 7-Eleven victim later testified that the tattooed defendant shot at him as he walked out of the store. The bleeding victim — with a bullet puncturing his lung — ducked back into the store and told the clerk to dial 911 before the two fled for their lives out the back.

“I call him Skeletor,” the man testified, the Review-Journal’s Briana Erickson reported.

The victim’s daughter was in a car in the parking lot with her own young daughter in the backseat.

She recalled the terror.

“I pleaded for my life,” she testified. “I said, ‘Please don’t shoot. I don’t have any money. You can take my car. You can take anything you want. Please don’t shoot.”

She said the gunman pointed the gun at her daughter in the backseat as the little girl screamed.

“He comes to my window and tells me something along the lines of I am very lucky,” she said, adding that the man turned his attention away from her and to another vehicle.

“I heard him say he was God and that there is an upcoming war coming,” she added.

After the 7-Eleven shooting, the defendants shot and wounded a female driver near Lake Las Vegas and drove to Parker, Arizona, where they were arrested after the Toyota Camry they were in crashed and rolled and after a shootout with authorities that wounded McConnell’s brother. Authorities said more than a dozen people reported being targeted in the spree.

McDonnell’s brother awaits trial, while his ex-wife is set to be sentenced in June.

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James Crumbley cries during footage of his son’s rampage

homesafetytechpros — Sat, 09 Mar 2024 16:55:59 +0000

The trial of James Crumbley — father of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crubley — continued with an emotional second day of testimony on Friday, one day after the convicted murderer’s father had his telephone privileges suspended for allegedly making threatening statements. As the proceedings came to a close, prosecutors played footage of the heinous mass shooting that appeared to leave James Crumbley in tears.

James Crumbley is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with his son’s deadly rampage, which took place on Nov. 30, 2021. Oxford students Tate Myre, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17, were killed when the then-15-year-old Ethan Crumbley opened fire on classmates and teachers inside of the school.

Prosecutors have argued that James Crumbley and his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, knew their son was troubled and failed to take any action to prevent the mass shooting. They had been called to the school the day of the shooting after teachers discovered disturbing and violent drawings he had made in a math workbook. The parents ultimately left the school after meeting with school officials and their son, while Ethan Crumbley stayed behind.

Jennifer Crumbley was convicted on the same charges in February. She is scheduled to be sentenced on April 9.

Footage of the shooting was shown during testimony from Oxford High School assistant principal Kristy Gibson-Marshall, who narrated the footage as played on a screen in the witness box. The administrator recounted seeing the shooter in the hallway and looking him in the eyes before he turned away from her. She then saw one of his victims on the ground and tried to resuscitate them.

“As he walked by I asked him if he was OK, what was going on,” Gibson-Marshall said. “He looked away from me, and I knew for sure he was the shooter because he would’ve talked to me if he were not.”

Courtroom footage provided by Law&Crime pans to James Crumbley — who is also able to see the video — at about 5:36:30. He appears to be crying and dabbing tears away from his eyes with a tissue.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday said that James Crumbley’s access to telephone and electronic communications had been restricted following the first day of his trial because he allegedly made threatening statements while in jail, Detroit Fox affiliate WJBK reported.

“His access to a phone or electronic messaging is now limited to communication with his lawyer,” the sheriff’s office told the station.

Authorities did not provide details about who James Crumbley is alleged to have threatened.

Ethan Crumbley, now 17, pleaded guilty in October to all 24 charges against him, including murder and terrorism. He was sentenced to a lifetime in prison without the possibility of parole.

Marisa Sarnoff contributed to this report

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Man sentenced to 100 years for deadly 2-state rampage

James Crumbley cries during footage of his son’s rampage