Woman Arrested In Rolling Hills Murder Sues Investigators

PALOS VERDES, CA – A woman announced Monday she and her attorney filed a claim against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and Mayor Susan Brooks alleging they wrongly accused her of the murder of a nurse in Rolling Hills Estates earlier this year. A claim is the first legal step required before a lawsuit can be filed against a government agency in a state court, NBC reported.

Forty-year-old Cherie Townsend, who describes herself as a single black mother, said she was stunned when detectives told her she did not belong at the upscale mall. The case, which rattled the community, remains unsolved.

In a press release, Townsend's lawyers said she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after being accused of murdering Susan Leeds, 66, at the Promenade in May. The lawyers, citing the county of Los Angeles, the city of Rancho Palos Verdes and Mayor Susan Brooks as defendants, said they will be suing for defamation, emotional distress, negligence, false arrest/imprisonment and violation of civil rights over the May arrest.

Describing Townsend as a mother who splits her time between driving her kids to extracurricular activities, the lawyers said the detectives told her they honed in on her because she did not belong at the mall.

“They had to blame somebody, and I was it. Because like they explained to me in interrogation, they told me I didn’t have any business over there,” said Townsend in a press release. “I’m not rich enough to be there, or I didn’t have the right car, or I didn’t look the part.”

In a statement to NBC, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the case "has proved to be a very complex, active investigation," and "with the lack of eyewitnesses, the physical and forensic evidence collected is continually being re-evaluated. Investigators are still receiving tips from the public and are diligently following up on each and every lead."

The attack on Leeds, of Rancho Palos Verdes, took place shortly after 12:20 p.m. May 3 at the Promenade on the Peninsula in the 500 block of Deep Valley Drive. She was found inside her SUV parked inside the Promenade's parking garage with her throat cut and several stab wounds to the chest.

A man detained a day after Leeds was killed was initially called a person of interest in the case, but although he was arrested for an unrelated offense, he was ruled out as a suspect in the killing.

"Based on surveillance video and current known evidence, the male is no longer being considered a person of interest, unless additional information or evidence comes to light," according to a sheriff's department statement.

Leeds was white, about 5-foot-2 and 140 pounds, and was wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt, black workout-type pants and pink shoes with white soles.

Townsend was arrested in Victorville two weeks after the murder, but was released from custody five days later after the District Attorney's Office cited the need for more investigation and held off on filing a case against her.

This was the first homicide on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in nine years, the Daily Breeze reported. Rolling Hills Estates Mayor Britt Huff told the newspaper the stabbing was "unbelievable.''

The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council also issued a statement regarding the murder. The council offered their deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Leeds as they cope with their sudden and senseless loss.

"It has shaken the entire Palos Verdes Peninsula and our residents," the council said. "We are universally outraged by this heinous crime and we all share a deep concern for the safety of the entire Peninsula community."

Patch staffer Hoa Quach and City News Service contributed to this post; Image via Shutterstock