Lyra Catherine McKee

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Police Service Of Northern Ireland (PSNI)

Offense Location:

Derry, Northern Ireland

Summary:

Lyra Catherine McKee was a journalist, writer and LGBTQI campaigner who was shot dead on 18 April 2019 by a masked gunman as she was observing a riot on the Creggan estate in Derry, Northern Ireland. She was a journalist from Northern Ireland who wrote for several publications about the consequences of the Troubles. Three men were acquitted of murder in 2026 in her killing; the actual gunman has never been identified.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

The violence started after police searched homes to find weapons done before parades to remember the Easter Rising. The disturbances happened on Fanad Drive where young people threw petrol bombs and set two vehicles on fire, then a gunman fired shots towards police officers, and Lyra McKee was on Fanad Drive, standing near a police vehicle, when she was hit in the head. She was shot in the head by a New IRA bullet meant for the police and was transported to Altnagelvin Area Hospital - the same hospital where her partner, Sara Canning, was working as a nurse. She died in hospital soon afterwards.

Additional Details:

On 23 April 2019, the 'New IRA' paramilitary group issued a statement in which it issued 'sincere apologies' for McKee's death, adding that she was not the intended target. Her funeral was attended by Theresa May, the then UK prime minister, Leo Varadkar, the Irish Taoiseach, and Michael D Higgins, the Irish president, at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast. On 14 September 2022, Niall Sheerin, from Derry, was sentenced to seven years in prison for possessing the gun used to murder McKee. In January 2023, Peter Cavanagh and Jordan Devine, both from Londonderry, were charged with McKee's murder; they denied the charge and were out on bail pending a trial date in Belfast. Three men were acquitted of murder in 2026; Justice Patricia Smyth regretted that her verdict would bring little if any comfort or relief to McKee's family, but said the circumstantial evidence was insufficient for a conviction. Jordan Devine (25), of Bishop Street; Paul McIntyre (58), of Kells Walk; and Peter Cavanagh (38), of Mary Street, were all cleared of the journalist's murder. The actual shooter has never been identified or apprehended. Her death helped spur a successful effort to get feuding politicians to revive Northern Ireland's power-sharing government, which had collapsed in 2017. Joan McKee, a mother-of-six from north Belfast, passed away peacefully in hospital on 10th March 2020, and is now at peace with her beloved daughter Lyra McKee.

Case Last Updated:

Aug 28, 2026