After authorities announced three men, who were charged in the deadly attempted robbery of an elderly woman at the Fashion Island mall in Newport beach, could be eligible for a possible death sentence, a good Samaritan, who tried to help the victim, said he was relieved to learn that the suspects are facing a judge.
Beau Bayless, a worker at a sushi bar at the mall, said he immediately jumped to action when he saw Patricia McKay, a tourist from New Zealand, being attacked.
“There was a lady getting mugged, and I was like, ‘That's somebody's grandma. That's somebody's mom,’” Bayless recalled.
McKay and her husband, Doug, were waiting for a ride after they finished their shopping when a white Toyota Camry pulled up next to them, and two men in masks jumped out before putting a gun to Doug’s head and demanding his watch, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.
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When the suspects were unable to get the husband’s watch, they moved on to attack the wife who was holding several shopping bags.
“It was almost like a cartoon where they're pulling back and forth, and she's yelling out, ‘Help me, Help me,’” Bayless described.
Despite running out as soon as he could, Bayless said he was unable to make it before the woman was run over by the suspects’ car.
“The getaway driver hit the lady, and she fell into the street on her back, so she let go of the purse, and the other one jumped in the car,” he said. “The third one was trying to get into the car, and that's when I caught him.”
Bayless said he managed to get one of the suspects down, but then he heard gunfire.
“That's when I saw the car had stopped. His buddy was out of the passenger side, gun pointed at me and his buddy. So I had to let go of the guy,” he explained.
Bayless said he felt terrible for the victim and her family, saying he wished he could have done more.
“When I play it back in my mind, I just wish I’d been quicker, and I wasn’t as old as I am.”
The DA said Leroy Ernest Joseph McCrary, 26, of Los Angeles, Malachi Eddward Darnell, 18, of Los Angeles and Jaden Cunningham, 18, of Lancaster have been charged with special circumstances for throwing the elderly tourist into the street and dragging her to death under a getaway car.
