Kawhi Leonard’s Sister Sentenced to Life for Casino Murder

Kimesha Monae Williams, an older sister of NBA star Kawhi Leonard, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on April 21, 2023, for the murder of 84-year-old Afaf Anis Assad during a robbery at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California. Her co-defendant, Candace Tai Townsel, received the same sentence. A jury in Riverside County Superior Court had convicted both women in February 2023 of first-degree felony murder, robbery, and elder abuse, with a special circumstance finding that the killing occurred during a robbery.¹

What Happened at the Pechanga Casino

On the morning of August 31, 2019, Assad arrived at the Pechanga Resort Casino with her 93-year-old husband. She was carrying a pink purse with roughly $1,000 in it for gambling. Prosecutors said Williams and Townsel had spent the predawn hours trawling the casino, stealing a woman’s cell phone and scouting for other targets, when they spotted Assad.²

Security cameras showed the two women changing course to follow Assad into a women’s restroom. Williams went inside; Townsel stayed near the door as a lookout. As Assad stepped out of a stall, she was attacked. The purse was torn from her forearm with force enough to open a three-and-a-half-inch gash consistent with a strap being violently yanked away, and she was knocked to the floor, striking the back of her head with what medical experts later compared to the force of a car crash.³

A woman in a neighboring stall heard gagging and a loud thud. When a custodian tried to enter the restroom, Townsel blocked her while Williams was still inside. On the way out, footage captured Townsel “skipping and waving her hands in a celebratory fashion.” Between $800 and $1,200 was taken. The purse was never recovered.²

A custodian later found Assad unconscious and bleeding on the floor. At Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, doctors found a skull fracture running ear to ear and a brain hemorrhage. She never regained consciousness and died on September 4, 2019.²

The Charges

Both women, residents of Moreno Valley, were arrested within a week. The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office charged them with first-degree murder, robbery, and elder abuse, and alleged the robbery special circumstance that made them eligible for life without parole.³

Both had prior records. The prosecution’s trial brief described “a long-documented history of theft crimes throughout Riverside County.” Williams had prior convictions for grand theft, burglary, and auto theft. Townsel had prior convictions for theft and driving on a suspended license.²

Trial and Verdict

The case was tried in Riverside County Superior Court under case number SWF1907576. Prosecutors argued that Williams was the direct perpetrator and Townsel aided and abetted, calling the killing “a robbery gone wrong.” They relied on the casino security footage, medical testimony about the injuries, and witness accounts from inside the restroom.²

The defense argued that the theft had not involved the force or fear needed to support felony murder or the robbery special circumstance. Townsel’s lawyers also argued she was merely present and did not act with the reckless indifference to human life required to convict an aider and abettor of felony murder.³

In February 2023, the jury found both defendants guilty on every count and found the special circumstance true.⁴

Sentencing and the Family’s Statement

At the April 2023 sentencing, Williams maintained her innocence in a statement read by her attorney: “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.” Townsel did not speak.²

Assad’s daughter, Mary Assad, told the court: “They stole the heart of our family. They robbed me of my mom, they robbed my daughter of her grandmother, they robbed my father of his soulmate.” Assad’s 93-year-old husband, Youanness, said, “She was my first love, my last love, and I want to die today to be with her.”⁵

Who Afaf Assad Was

Afaf Anis Assad was a Long Beach resident, married to Youanness for 59 years. The couple were Coptic Christians from Cairo who immigrated to the United States in 1969; she was naturalized in 1976. She was a professional accountant who rose to serve as a division chief for the Los Angeles County property tax appeals board. She lived with her husband, her daughter Mary, Mary’s husband Wayne Brown, and her 12-year-old granddaughter, Sierra.⁵

The Appeal

Both women appealed. On May 1, 2025, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two, affirmed the convictions and sentences in People v. Williams, Case No. E081147.³

The court rejected Townsel’s argument that the evidence was insufficient to show she aided a robbery or acted with reckless indifference to life. It pointed to her standing by as the frail victim lay on the ground, providing no aid, and blocking the janitor from entering the restroom. The court also upheld the finding that the theft involved force, citing Assad’s severe forearm wound and fatal skull fracture as far beyond what a simple purse-snatching would produce.³

The defendants won one narrow point. The appellate court struck suspended parole revocation fines imposed at sentencing, finding them legally inapplicable to defendants sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, and directed the trial court to amend the sentencing documents.⁶

The Leonard Family Connection

Kawhi Leonard has four older sisters, including Williams and Miesha Slayton; the other two have not been publicly named.⁴ The case marked the second time violent crime struck his family. On January 18, 2008, when Kawhi was a high school junior, his father Mark Leonard was shot ten times and killed at the car wash he owned in Compton in front of his wife, Jacquelyne. Detectives believe the killing was targeted, tied to an argument Mark had earlier that day with a local gang member, and not a robbery.⁷ Three months later, Jacquelyne Leonard was shot in the legs at the same car wash by a gunman using an AK-47 and needed eight surgeries to save her legs. Investigators believe the two shootings may be connected.⁸

Mark Leonard’s murder remains unsolved. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reopened the case in 2019, but no one has been charged.⁹

1
ABC7. Pechanga Casino Murder Defendants Sentenced
2
NBC Los Angeles. Clippers Star Kawhi Leonard’s Sister Sentenced to Life for Murder
3
Justia. People v. Williams, E081147
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ESPN. LA Clippers Star Kawhi Leonard’s Sister Sentenced for Murder
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Press-Enterprise. Family of Pechanga Casino Homicide Victim Feels Robbed of Beloved Matriarch
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FindLaw. People v. Williams, E081147
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NBA.com. Mark Leonard Feature
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ABC7. Murder of Kawhi Leonard’s Father Remains a Mystery
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KFI AM 640. The Murder of Mark Leonard