A 45-year-old woman on Monday, July 1, was ordered to stand trial on murder and robbery charges related to the stabbing death of a retired nurse in the parking structure of a Rolling Hills Estates mall in 2018 after a judge ruled prosecutors had presented enough evidence against her during a four-day hearing in Torrance Superior Court.
After prosecutors presented a mostly circumstantial case against Cherie Lynnette Townsend, Judge Alan B. Honeycutt ruled the case could move forward. An arraignment date was set for July 16.
Townsend also faces allegations of personally using a knife during the commission of both crimes.
Townsend’s public defender, Elizabeth Landgraf, in arguing for a dismissal of the charges said prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to show that it was more probable than not that Townsend committed the crimes.
Townsend is accused of stabbing 66-year-old Susan Leeds 17 times in the neck and upper body, in the driver’s seat of Leeds’ SUV after Leeds returned to the parking structure of the Promenade on the Peninsula mall just before 12:15 p.m. on May 3, 2018, according to evidence presented during the preliminary hearing. Leeds also had an incise wound on her left index finger, indicating she may have tried to defend herself, said Dr. Paul Gliniecki, a deputy medical examiner.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials have said they believed the motive to be a random robbery, though detectives who took the stand Friday acknowledged Leeds’ checkbook was found in her passenger seat that day as well as some credit cards. They also said they never found evidence of anyone attempting to use Leeds’ credit cards, gift cards or financial accounts after she was killed.
Missing from Leeds’ SUV after her slaying was a purse, her driver’s license, her cellphone and a diabetic machine, Detective Marcelo Quintero confirmed on the witness stand.
Townsend was arrested and interviewed two weeks after the murder, but released six days later after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office asked for further investigation. Townsend was arrested again in August and when she was interviewed about the day of the murder, gave different answers than in her previous interview five years prior, Detective Louie Aguilera testified Friday.
In between, Townsend filed civil lawsuits against Rolling Hills Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and then-Sheriff Jim McDonnell, along with several others, claiming false arrest and imprisonment, unlawful search and seizure, violation of due process, defamation, infliction of emotional distress and negligent investigation. That lawsuit was dismissed in September in lieu of the charges, according to court records.
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