The sister of NBA superstar Kawhi Leonard is charged with murdering an elderly woman in a California casino bathroom last Saturday.
Kimesha Monae Williams, 35, and her accomplice Candace Tai Townsel, 39, are charged with killing Afaf Anis Assad, 84.
The two women allegedly followed Assad into a bathroom at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif., where they struck her in the head with a blunt object and stole her purse containing $800–$1,200, according to The Press-Enterprise.
Williams was arrested on Sept. 3, a day before Assad died from closed head injuries.
Speaking through a window at the Williams family home in Moreno Valley, Williams’ aunt Denise Woodard confirmed Williams is Leonard’s sister.
Woodard told the paper, “He didn’t have anything to do with this.”
Williams is being held without bail at Indio Correction Facility, according to The Press-Enterprise.
Woodard declined to speak for Leonard and said she didn’t know whether Leonard had reached out to the family or to his sister.
A Riverside County sheriff’s investigator filed a written request asking the judge to keep Williams locked up without bail due to her history of violence and family finances.
“Williams has family that are well off and could post her bail of $1,000,000,” the investigator wrote. “I am requesting NO BAIL to assure Williams’ appearance in court and to keep innocent victims safe.”
After leading the Toronto Raptors to the team’s first ever NBA championship Leonard signed a three-year, $103 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers in July.
“Williams has a violent history and targeted a feeble elderly female and robbed her,” the investigator wrote.
Jail records list Williams’ height and weight as 6-foot-2 and 320 pounds, and Townsel as being 5-foot-4 and 195 pounds.
Williams is listed in court records as a biological female.
She has a long criminal history that includes petty theft, grand theft, misappropriating lost property, grand theft auto and attempted robbery, court records show.
