{"id":270176,"date":"2023-04-24T11:07:08","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T16:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=270176"},"modified":"2023-04-24T12:05:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T17:05:53","slug":"california-casino-deadly-robbery-leads-to-life-sentence-for-sister-of-nba-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-casino-deadly-robbery-leads-to-life-sentence-for-sister-of-nba-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadly Robbery at California Casino Leads to Life Sentence for Sister of NBA Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kimesha Williams<\/a> will be spending the rest of her life in prison after a California judge sentenced her Friday for the death of an elderly woman during a violent holdup at Pechanga Resort Casino<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Afaf
Afaf Assad, pictured above. She was murdered at a California casino during a robbery. Two women were sentenced to life in prison for the crime. (Image: KABC<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 39-year-old convict is the older sister of Los Angeles Clippers player Kawhi Leonard<\/a>. He had no role in the crime.<\/p>\n

An accomplice, Candace Townsel, 42, also received a life sentence for the 2019 homicide at the Temecula, Calif., gaming property. Neither of the former Moreno Valley, Calif. residents will ever be given the chance for parole under the sentence.<\/p>\n

Williams and Townsel were convicted after a month-long trial in February of first-degree murder, robbery, and elder abuse for the Aug. 31, 2019 crime.<\/p>\n

\n

The victim, Afaf Anis Assad, 84, of Long Beach, Calif., had just entered the casino and walked to the restroom. Williams followed Assad into the lavatory, yanked a large purse from her, broke her skull, and knocked her unconscious. Assad was found bleeding from the head following the attack, which netted Williams $1,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Four days later, Assad died at Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, Calif.<\/p>\n

Rap Sheet<\/h2>\n

Townsel, who had taken methamphetamine (meth) just hours before the robbery, acted as a lookout while remaining outside the restroom. She prevented a custodian from entering the lavatory.<\/p>\n

While fleeing the crime scene with Williams, Townsel \u201ccelebrated by skipping and waving her arms,\u201d prosecutors said. Williams and Townsel were arrested for the crime on September 3.<\/p>\n

During the trial held at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley, Calif., Williams\u2019 lawyer claimed that her client didn\u2019t kill Assad, arguing that the woman had slipped on a wet floor.<\/p>\n

But her purse was never found, adding further doubt to the prosecutor\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n

\"Kimesha
Kimesha Williams, pictured above during the trial. Williams was sentenced to life in prison after killing an elderly at Pechanga Resort Casino. (Image: KABC<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2015, Williams was permanently banned from Pechanga Casino after stealing a wallet, the Mercury News<\/em> reported. She also was banned from the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon and the San Manuel Casino in Highland after stealing tickets, the report added.<\/p>\n

Townsel was banned for 90 days from the Soboba Casino Resort near San Jacinto in 2017 for the theft of two purses. Morongo Casino banned her, too, after a fight there with a boyfriend.<\/p>\n

Williams Maintains Innocence<\/h2>\n

Williams presented a statement to the victim\u2019s family in which she denied killing Assad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so sorry for your loss,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI am not responsible for the death of Mrs. Assad. Although the courts have found me guilty of the charges, we all know the truth, and that there is one judge, and that is God, and that he knows the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Superior Court Judge Timothy F. Freer outright dismissed her claims. \u201cThe idea that either Miss Williams or Miss Townsel is not responsible for the death of a human being is laughable,\u201d Freer was quoted by the San Jose Mercury News<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(Afar Assad) lived a long life. Didn\u2019t deserve to be killed, violently murdered in a casino,\u201d Freer said before sentencing. She was left on a bathroom floor with her head exploding. A casino bathroom, where people go to urinate and defecate and do God knows what else. That\u2019s how her life ended, not with her family and friends around her.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Townsel didn\u2019t present a statement before the judge sentenced the pair.<\/p>\n

Assad went to the casino that day with her 93-year-old husband, Youanness Assad. They had been married for 59 years and walked arm-in-arm into the casino where they planned to gamble.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a long, painful journey through the criminal court justice system,\u201d Assad\u2019s daughter, Mary Assad, said in a victim impact statement she read in the courtroom, the Mercury News <\/em>reported. “We seek not vengeance, but there needs to be a reckoning for their heinous act,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors sought life in prison for the two defendants. The maximum sentence was the death penalty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kimesha Williams will be spending the rest of her life in prison after a California judge sentenced her Friday for the death of an elderly woman during a violent holdup at Pechanga Resort Casino. The 39-year-old convict is the older sister of Los Angeles Clippers player Kawhi Leonard. He had no role in the crime. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":270189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60],"tags":[81905,13766,81815,84293,81928,82002,85978],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCasino Fatal Robbery Leads to Life Sentence for Sister of NBA Star<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kimesha Williams to spend life in prison. 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A judge sentenced her Friday for the death of an elderly woman during a Pechanga Casino holdup.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-casino-deadly-robbery-leads-to-life-sentence-for-sister-of-nba-star\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-24T16:07:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-24T17:05:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/afaf-assad.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"615\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"422\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-casino-deadly-robbery-leads-to-life-sentence-for-sister-of-nba-star\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-casino-deadly-robbery-leads-to-life-sentence-for-sister-of-nba-star\/\",\"name\":\"Casino Fatal Robbery Leads to Life Sentence for Sister of NBA Star\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-casino-deadly-robbery-leads-to-life-sentence-for-sister-of-nba-star\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-casino-deadly-robbery-leads-to-life-sentence-for-sister-of-nba-star\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/afaf-assad.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-24T16:07:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-24T17:05:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"Kimesha Williams to spend life in prison. 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