LANCASTER, Calif. (KNX) — A Riverside man and his daughter pleaded no context on Wednesday to kidnapping a woman who was later dumped in the northern Los Angeles County desert in 2019.
Stanley Alfred Lawton, 57, was expected to be sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison in connection with a charge of aggravated kidnapping with intent to commit robbery, according to L.A. County prosecutors.
Lawton’s daughter, 24-year-old Shaniya Nicole Poche-Lawton of Palmdale, pleaded no contest alongside her father to kidnapping and admitted to using a firearm in connection with the incident. She faces 15 years in prison.
L.A. County sheriff’s deputies said the victim was abducted in Nov. 2019 from the North Las Vegas area. Around five days later, she was found by military police making routine rounds outside the Edwards Air Force Base in Antelope Valley.
Prosecutors said the woman knew the defendants, and that she was kidnapped at gunpoint, driven to Antelope Valley, and left stranded in the desert. At some point before being dumped, the victim was sexually assaulted, Sheriff’s Capt. Eduardo Hernandez said.
The two defendants were initially charged with a variety of offenses, including attempted murder, forcible rape, and robbery. The rape charge was dismissed against Poche-Lawton last year. The remaining counts against the duo were expected to be dismissed as a result of their no-contest pleas.
Both father and daughter are due back in L.A. County Superior Court for sentencing in March.
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