Woman convicted of killing retired nurse to get cash for child's cheerleading camp
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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’s daughter to attend a cheerleading competition.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.Investigators tested blood and DNA in and outside of Leeds’ white Mercedes SUV, but it was Townsend’s cellphone — found by deputies underneath the vehicle — that led to Townsend’s arrest.Thursday’s 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’s Department, Townsend insisted she was innocent in the brutal slaying, claiming she had been unfairly targeted and arrested in the crime.Townsend was initially arrested in May 2018 but released six days later, after prosecutors asked investigators for additional evidence.While the investigation continued, Townsend sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in October 2018, alleging false imprisonment, defamation, racial discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“I live my life in hiding, afraid that the police are going to come or that I’m gonna be unjustly targeted like I was before,” Townsend said during a news conference at the time.California Patrick Galvani has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the death of his wife, Nancy Galvani, in 1982.
The 81-year-old is set to appear in court this week.But Townsend was rearrested and charged in August 2023, leading to her conviction Thursday.Her federal lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department was dismissed.
In court, Townsend’s public defender, Elizabeth Landgraf, argued that no...