Man pleads guilty to murder, gun charges in deadly 2020 shooting spree case

A man accused in a 2020 shooting spree that targeted two dozen people and left one man dead has pleaded guilty but mentally ill to 23 felony charges.

Christopher McDonnell, 32, entered his plea Thursday before District Judge Tierra Jones, according to court records. The charges he admitted to include first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder and multiple counts of discharging a firearm at or into an occupied vehicle.

Prosecutors intend to argue for a sentence that would last longer than his natural life.

Authorities have said McDonnell, his brother Shawn McDonnell and Kayleigh Lewis crafted a plan for a series of shootings, which targeted nearly two dozen people, many in vehicle-to-vehicle shootings in Henderson and Bouse, Arizona.

Kevin Mendiola Jr., 22, of North Las Vegas was killed in front of a 7-Eleven on the 800 block of East Lake Mead Parkway in Henderson.

Lewis and Shawn McDonnell had married weeks before the shootings. At the time, Christopher McDonnell was on parole for assaulting a family member.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 13.