Two Moreno Valley women were sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday, April 21, for killing an 84-year-old Long Beach woman who was found unconscious with a cracked skull on the floor of a Pechanga Resort Casino bathroom in 2019.
Kimesha Monae Williams, 39, and Candace Tai Townsel, 42, who both have long rap sheets for theft, were convicted in February at Southwest Justice Center in French Valley of murder, robbery and elder abuse, along with a sentencing enhancement of committing a robbery during a murder, after a monthlong trial.
Their sentences for robbery and elder abuse were stayed under the legal tenet that those crimes were part of a single act, the murder of Afaf Assad.
“This has been a long, painful journey through the criminal court justice system,” Assad’s daughter, Mary Assad, said in the victim impact statement she read to the court. “I still can’t believe my mother was the victim of a violent crime. … Part of me died in that hospital room with her.
“My father is without his wife and partner and is isolated and alone in a way we cannot begin to understand … We seek not vengeance but there needs to be a reckoning for their heinous act,” Assad said.
Williams, in a statement read to the court by her attorney, said she did not kill anyone.
“I am so sorry for your loss,” Williams wrote, addressing Mary Assad. “I have been praying for you and your family every day. I 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.”
Townsel did not make a statement.
Williams’ statement did not appear to move Superior Court Judge Timothy F. Freer.
“The idea that either Miss Williams or Miss Townsel is not responsible for the death of a human being is laughable,” Freer said.
“(Assad) lived a long life. Didn’t deserve to be killed, violently murdered in a casino,”…
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