In a California courtroom, prosecutors revealed that a woman accused of fatally stabbing a retired nurse in a shopping mall parking garage was allegedly seeking funds to finance her daughter’s cheerleading excursion.

During Wednesday’s opening statements at Torrance Superior Court, 47-year-old Cherie Lynette Townsend faced charges related to the murder of 66-year-old Susan Leeds. According to a report by the local news outlet, Daily Breeze, Townsend is accused of killing Leeds, a retired nurse discovered with fatal stab wounds in her Mercedes-Benz SUV on May 3, 2018, after shopping at the Promenade on the Peninsula mall in Rolling Hills. Leeds succumbed to her injuries shortly after being found.

Evidence presented suggests that Townsend had also visited the mall that day, with her gold sedan spotted exiting the same parking facility where Leeds sustained her injuries.

Prosecutors highlighted Townsend’s financial struggles leading up to Leeds’ death, noting her social media posts about these challenges. A significant issue was the cost of a cheerleading competition in Florida for her 14-year-old daughter. Townsend had reportedly promised to take two of her daughter’s friends along, collecting $350 from each for their travel expenses, yet prosecutors claim the tickets were never bought.

A criminal complaint, accessed by a Patch reporter from Palos Verdes, detailed that investigators spoke with the cheerleading team’s general manager. The manager disclosed that Townsend had been issuing checks that bounced, prompting a request for payments in cash or via cashier’s checks to settle team-related fees.

The complaint stated that Townsend had used Google to search for different ways to obtain money, including duplicating credit cards, robbing coin-operated washing machines, celebrity donations, and even finding a “sugar daddy.” Prosecutors also cited Google searches for Promenade on the Peninsula and gyms in the area.

In court, prosecutors said that Townsend wanted to start a GoFundMe to raise money for the trip, but she thought her children would be embarrassed.

Prosecutors contended that Townsend lay in wait for two hours for Leeds to return to her SUV. When Leeds got back from shopping at The Gap and getting takeout food, Townsend allegedly stabbed the retired nurse 17 times in the neck and torso. Leeds’ black purse, which she was seen carrying on surveillance video, was gone. She was still wearing her jewelry.

According to prosecutors and the criminal complaint, Townsend’s phone was found under Leeds’ car. Prosecutors further stated that Leeds’ phone pinged off towers in the general area where Townsend was seen heading after the alleged attack. In the complaint, a homicide investigator stated that they identified the phone under Leeds’ car as Townsend’s when they saw a photo of her on the phone.

Townsend, who was interviewed by police in the days after Leeds’ death, told detectives that she knew she left her phone in the parking structure but did not know where. She reportedly visited a Verizon store to try to locate her phone.

Police seized Townsend’s car as evidence, but did not find any of Leeds’ belongings, nor did they find a murder weapon. Townsend was arrested on May 17, 2018, in connection with Leeds’ homicide, but was released days later. She later sued the county and repeatedly claimed her innocence, including in an interview in September 2018 to local NBC affiliate KNBC.

Another man was also arrested in the early days of the investigation, but was cleared as a suspect.

Five years after Leeds’ death, in August 2023, Townsend was arrested again. Her defense attorney argued in court on Monday that there was no evidence connecting Townsend to Leeds’ death, and Townsend’s DNA was excluded from 40 samples taken at the scene.

Townsend’s attorney said there were “a lot of questions that the prosecution can’t answer, and that is reasonable doubt.”

Townsend was charged with murder when she was rearrested in 2023.