Suspects await trial 2 years after deadly Thanksgiving shooting spree in Henderson

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Ten people in Henderson were targeted at random in four shootings on Thanksgiving 2020. A 22-year-old man was killed, and three other people were shot.

Shawn McDonnell, his brother Christopher McDonnell, and Kayleigh Lewis were all scheduled to stand trial together last week charged with murder, attempted murder, and terrorism, but it’s been postponed.

“This is one of those extraordinary cases that stands out because this was a crime spree, this was a group of folks that went to states and shot randomly at people striking others, this is pretty outrageous conduct,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told FOX5 in an interview last year. Wolfson said he considers it a death penalty case.

“So many people were put at risk. Many people were shot, it was random, reckless, dangerous… there are some murders that are worse than others, this is the worst of the worst,” Wolfson asserted.

Prosecutors say Christopher McDonnell told his brother to “shoot the black guy.”

In the parking lot of the 7/11 on East Lake Mead Parkway, 22-year-old Kevin Mendiola Jr. from North Las Vegas was shot and killed.

The trio is facing more than 50 felony counts for the crimes in Nevada and also in Arizona where police say they were behind five more shootings before rolling their car trying to run from police. Shawn McDonnel was shot by an officer but recovered.

Shawn McDonnell was found competent to stand trial last November but this summer a judge reversed that decision and committed him. FOX5 asked the DA’s office what will happen now that McDonnell has been declared incompetent. They told fox5 they are unable to provide information.

Both Christopher McDonnell and Kayleigh Lewis remain in the Clark County Detention Center being held without bond. Both are scheduled for a status check before a judge in February 2023.

The trio came to Nevada from Tyler, Texas. Kayleigh Lewis and Shawn McDonnell were married in Las Vegas a couple of weeks before the shootings.

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