Three men acquitted of murder over journalist Lyra McKee's killing

Three men have been cleared of murder charges in the 2019 killing of Belfast journalist Lyra McKee. Justice Patricia Smyth delivered not guilty verdicts after a non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court, which spanned intermittently over two years.

Ms McKee, 29, was fatally shot on April 18, 2019, while observing an anti-police riot in Derry/Londonderry. Protesters had thrown fire bombs and torched a car before four shots were fired, with one bullet striking the journalist. The New IRA, a dissident paramilitary group, stated that its members accidentally shot Ms McKee while targeting police officers.

Ms McKee was known for her writing about the generation born after the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, chronicling the legacy of paramilitary violence. Her death prompted widespread mourning, with the prime ministers of Britain and Ireland, along with political leaders from Northern Ireland, attending her funeral. Her killing also contributed to efforts to revive Northern Ireland's collapsed power-sharing government.

While no one was charged with firing the fatal shot, Paul McIntyre, 58, Peter Cavanagh, 37, and Jordan Gareth Devine, 25, faced murder charges as accomplices for allegedly encouraging or assisting the shooter. Defense attorneys successfully argued that the circumstantial evidence presented was not sufficient to secure a conviction.