US EditionJurors to decide if woman, driven by financial troubles, killed retired nurse in Rolling Hills Estates mall parking structure
Cherie Townsend faces murder charges after allegedly stabbing Susan Leeds 17 times in a mall parking structure, with prosecutors citing financial desperation as motive.
- Following Dec. 3 closing arguments, jurors began deliberations in Torrance Superior Court on Cherie Lynnettee Townsend’s murder case at the Promenade on the Peninsula.
- Prosecutors argued motive was financial desperation, saying Townsend was about $2,000 short for her daughter's Orlando trip and lied to three friends about plane tickets.
- Automated License Plate Readers captured the gold Chevrolet Malibu entering shortly before 9:40 a.m., Townsend's phone was found under Leeds' SUV, and prosecutors said she attacked Leeds shortly before 9:40 a.m.
- Prosecutors argued that `all of the evidence points to the defendant`, and Townsend faces a potential sentence of 26 years to life with sentencing tentatively scheduled for Jan. 23.
- The case's procedural history includes a May 2018 arrest, release, and August 2023 re-arrest, with defense highlighting five untested male DNA samples and grainy surveillance video.
10 Articles
10 Articles
Woman Convicted of Murdering Woman in Mall Parking Garage
A woman who sued Los Angeles County after being arrested and then released in connection with the stabbing death of a woman in a parking garage at a Rolling Hills Estates mall — but was subsequently re-arrested more than five years later — was convicted Thursday of murder. Jurors deliberated just under a day before finding Cherie Lynnette Townsend, now 47, of first-degree murder for the May 3, 2018, killing of Susan Leeds, 66, of Rancho Palos Ve…
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Jurors to decide if woman, driven by financial troubles, killed retired nurse in Rolling Hills Estates mall parking structure
Desperate to replace money that she had allegedly stolen from three friends by lying to them and saying she had bought plane tickets for their daughters to travel with her to Florida, a 47-year-old woman went to the Promenade on the Peninsula in Rolling Hills Estates to find a vulnerable victim, which ended up being a 66-year-old retired nurse, prosecutors said during closing arguments of her trial Wednesday, Dec. 3. Cherie Lynnettee Townsend is…
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