Southern California shoe store owner who was accused of shooting and injuring a 9 year-old girl while he opened fire on shoplifters, agreed Thursday to be charged with the crime.
According to police, Marqel Cockrell (20) fled Victorville, California, in his car after Ava Chruniak (her family’s daughter), was hit by bullets Tuesday while she waited for her photo taken with an Easter bunny at the mall.
Cockrell (20 years old) stood before a Las Vegas judge and stated that he knew that California authorities had thirty days to extradite Cockrell. Cockrell was not represented by an attorney as Nevada doesn’t have lawyers to assist with extradition cases.
Cockrell is co-owner of the shoe shop Sole Addicts in the Mall of Victor Valley. He was following two shoplifters around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday when he fired shots that “instead struck the 9-year old female victim,” Victorville Police said in a statement.
According to her grandmother Moraga-Saldarelli, the girl sustained three gunshot wounds including two in her arm. One bullet fractured an arm bone.
She was discharged from the hospital on Thursday, but she will need another operation to fix nerve damage, KCBS TV reported.
“I will never forgive” him. “What he did to my is not okay,” Ava said from her bed at home. “No one should own a gun at the mall.”
According to police, Cockrell was driving from the mall when responding officers received reports of gunfire. He was then arrested in Nevada’s Clark County about three hours from Victorville.
Cockrell is currently being held at Clark County Detention Center, Las Vegas. According to authorities, he is facing at least one attempted killing charge. He is not listed in records as having a lawyer to speak for him.
