Kawhi Leonard’s sister gets life in prison for fatal robbery

Candace Townsel, left, and Kimesha Williams, right, are seen in booking photos released by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Williams is the sister of Clippers star Kawhi Leonard.

by: Cameron Kiszla

Posted: Apr 22, 2023 / 01:55 PM PDT

Updated: Apr 22, 2023 / 03:34 PM PDT

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The sister of Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in a 2019 murder at a Temecula casino.

Kimesha Williams, the elder sister of Leonard, and another woman named Candace Townsel were convicted in February of first-degree murder, robbery and elder abuse, ESPN reported.

Townsel also received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In September 2019, the women followed 84-year-old Afaf Anis Assad of Long Beach into a Pechanga Resort Casino bathroom, robbed her and left her in the bathroom unconscious.

Assad suffered a broken skull in the attack, according to ESPN, and she died five days later.

Williams’ relationship with Leonard was confirmed to The Press-Enterprise by relative Denise Woodard in 2019, though Woodard stressed that Leonard “didn’t have anything to do with this.”