NBA star Kawhi Leonard’s sister sentenced to life in prison for murder of an elderly woman whose skull was broken in 2019

The sister of LA Clippers star, Kawhi Leonard has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of an elderly woman who was found with a cracked skull on the bathroom floor at Pechanga Resort Casino in California in 2019.

Leonard’s older sister, Kimesha Williams, 39, and one Candace Townsell, 42, were sentenced on Friday for the killing of Afaf Assad, an 84-year-old woman from Long Beach, per The Press-Enterprise.

Both women were convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, and elder abuse in February after a monthlong trial.

Deputies from the Southwest Sheriff’s Station said they were called to the four-star hotel and casino in Temecula – a two-hour drive south from Los Angeles – at about 8am on August 31, 2019, to find Assad lying unconscious on the bathroom floor.

She and her husband of 59 years, Youanness, 93, entered the casino with a purse containing $1,000, according to The Press-Enterprise. Assad eventually went to the bathroom, where Williams followed her, while Townsell was on the lookout, at one point blocking a custodian from entering.

No witnesses saw the attack on Assad unfold but a woman in a stall heard a ‘thud’ before Williams eventually left the bathroom and made a ‘beeline’ for the exit with Townsell.

Assad died four days later at a local hospital after being admitted with ‘serious injuries.’

Her bright pink purse went missing and was never found, the Press Enterprise reported. Riverside County Senior Deputy District Attorney Marcus Garrett claimed during the trial that the purse had been ripped from Assad’s arm, pointing to a ‘deep laceration’ where the strap had been on the elderly woman’s body.

Garrett also contended that Assad had been either pushed or fell. Leonard was not present at his sister’s sentencing on Friday.

Prior to Assad’s murder a little less than four years ago, Williams and Townsell were well known to officials at the Pechanga Resort and other Inland Empire casinos.

In 2015, Williams was permanently banned from Pechanga after stealing someone’s wallet, a casino official told the Press-Enterprise News.

Leonard’s sister was also permanently barred entry from the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon and the Yaamava Casino in Highland after ‘ripping winning tickets’ out of people’s hands, Garrett shared in a court filing.

Additionally, Townsell had been banned from the Soboba Casino Resort near San Jacinto in 2017 for 90 days, following the disappearance of two purses, according to Garret’s filing.

She was then banned from Morongo Casino in 2018 after a shoving incident with her boyfriend.

Williams was previously convicted for another crime, involving attempted robbery, in Los Angeles County, according to Press-Enterprise News.

Leonard, a two-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors – has three sisters other than Williams. His father, Mark Leonard, was shot and killed on January 18, 2008, at the Compton car wash he owned.