2 men charged with murder of Lyra McKee
Lyra McKee, a well-known Northern Irish journalist who was killed while covering violence in Londonderry in 2019, saw two men indicted for her murder appear in court on Friday.
In addition to murder; Gearoid Cavanagh (33), and Jordan Devine (21), were charged with arson; throwing petrol bombs, and murder.
McKee, 29, was shot and killed while covering anti-police rioting in Derry, Northern Ireland, in April 2019. McKee was shot accidentally by members of the New IRA, a tiny paramilitary group that opposes the peace process in Northern Ireland.
According to the prosecution, the two men are accused of being in the company of the gunman who fired the fatal shot. They were granted bail and will have another court date on October 7 to appear.
According to the BBC, a detective said in court that Cavanagh “escorted” the gunman the night of the killing. He added Cavanagh had been identified from the incident’s photographs and was also linked to the scene by a charred zip fastener recovered nearby.
McKee was a rising star in the world of journalism who had written extensively on his experiences as a gay teenager growing up in Northern Ireland. Her writing frequently dealt with the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland; a decades-long war between “unionists,” who wanted Northern Ireland to stay part of the United Kingdom, and “republicans,” who wanted it to leave and become part of a united Ireland. In 1998; a peace agreement known as the Good Friday Agreement brought an end to hostilities.
McKee was a rising star in the world of journalism who had written extensively on his experiences as a gay teenager growing up in Northern Ireland. Her writing frequently dealt with the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, a decades-long war between “unionists,” who wanted Northern Ireland to stay part of the United Kingdom, and “republicans,” who wanted it to leave and become part of a united Ireland. In 1998, a peace agreement known as the Good Friday Agreement brought an end to hostilities.
