A mother of two was convicted Thursday of the 2018 stabbing and killing of a retired nurse in what prosecutors said was a robbery attempt to pay for the assailant\u2019s daughter to attend a cheerleading competition. <\/p>\n
Cherie Lynnette Townsend, 47, was found guilty of murdering Susan Leeds, 66, an attack that took place in the parking lot of in a Rolling Hills Estates mall. Officials said Leeds was stabbed 17 times shortly after noon on May 3.<\/p>\n
Investigators tested blood and DNA in and outside of Leeds\u2019 white Mercedes SUV, but it was Townsend\u2019s cellphone \u2014 found by deputies underneath the vehicle \u2014 that led to Townsend\u2019s arrest. <\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s conviction brought an end to a seven-year legal ordeal. In public comments, in criminal court, and in a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department, Townsend insisted she was innocent in the brutal slaying, claiming she had been unfairly targeted and arrested in the crime. <\/p>\n
Townsend was initially arrested in May 2018 but released six days later, after prosecutors asked investigators for additional evidence.<\/p>\n
While the investigation continued, Townsend sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department<\/a> in October 2018, alleging false imprisonment, defamation, racial discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress. <\/p>\n \u201cI live my life in hiding, afraid that the police are going to come or that I\u2019m gonna be unjustly targeted like I was before,\u201d Townsend said during a news conference at the time.<\/p>\n But Townsend was rearrested and charged in August 2023, leading to her conviction Thursday. Her federal lawsuit against the Sheriff\u2019s Department was dismissed. <\/p>\n In court, Townsend\u2019s public defender, Elizabeth Landgraf, argued that no direct evidence linked Townsend to the killing, such as DNA, fingerprints, witnesses or video. <\/p>\n Ilene Louie, a criminologist for the Sheriff\u2019s Department, testified that investigators collected and tested DNA and multiple blood samples that were found inside and just outside of Leeds\u2019 SUV. <\/p>\n Blood found in and around the car matched Leeds\u2019 profile, but the samples did not match Townsend\u2019s DNA, according to reports presented in court. <\/p>\n The blood samples also did not match a homeless man who had been originally detained in the killing. Blood that was found in that man\u2019s jeans, Louie testified, did not match Leeds\u2019 DNA profile.<\/p>\n But underneath the car, investigators found Townsend\u2019s cellphone, which had traces of DNA that matched Townsend\u2018s.<\/p>\n According to the criminal complaint, Townsend had been looking for ways to come up with $2,000 to send her daughter and two of her friends to a cheerleading competition in Florida.<\/p>\n Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Thompson said in his opening statement that Townsend had considered starting a GoFundMe account but decided against it, thinking it might embarrass her daughter, the Daily Breeze reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n