Overview
- Jurors on Dec. 4 found Cherie Townsend guilty of first-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of 66-year-old Susan Leeds in a Rolling Hills Estates parking structure.
- Prosecutors said the attack was a botched robbery as Townsend sought about $2,000 to fund her daughter's cheerleading trip.
- Investigators testified that blood at the scene did not match Townsend, but traces of her DNA were found on a cellphone recovered under the victim's SUV, despite defense claims of no direct proof tying her to the stabbing.
- Townsend was first arrested in May 2018, the case was initially declined for filing, the probe was reassigned in 2022, she was rearrested in August 2023, and trial began Nov. 12, 2025.
- Townsend maintains her innocence and previously sued the sheriff’s department in a case since dismissed, and she now faces up to 26 years to life at sentencing as the victim’s family welcomed the verdict.