Woman pleads not guilty to stealing from cancer-stricken grandma

A 35-year-old woman pleaded not guilty Thursday to stealing about $373,000 from her cancer-stricken grandmother in Irvine.

Lashawn Ellesse Owens is charged with two counts each of grand theft and theft from an elder and a count of stealing a car, all felonies. She also faces sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime between $100,00 and $500,000.

Owens’ family arranged to have the defendant care for her grandmother, Phyllis Owens, after the 72-year-old was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, according to a report from Irvine police investigator Sarah Voigt.

Phyllis Owens received a settlement of $421,561.69 from injuries suffered in a car crash, Voigt said in court papers.

“Due to the medications Phyllis was taking during this time she was fairly weak, therefore Lawshawn facilitated the communication between the bank and Phyllis,” according to Voigt.

The victim thought she was signing documents needed for her granddaughter to help her with banking, but they were cashiers checks, Voigt said. The defendant allegedly received a $53,900 cashiers check on Dec. 21 of last year paid to Tesla, $60,000 paid to the defendant, $2,000 paid in cash and another $10,000 in cash, Voigt said.

“Phyllis told me none of these transactions were approved by her nor had she ever had any conversations with Lashawn which would maker her think these types of transactions would be authorized,” Voigt said.

The defendant also allegedly convinced the victim to close her bank account and transfer her funds to another bank, where the defendant had an account, Voigt said. The victim transferred $228,873 over to the new bank account, Voigt said.

The grandmother had her family evict the defendant from her home after just a week “because she was scared and intimidated by Lawshawn’s actions and the way Lashawn was caring for her,” Voigt said.

When the victim tried to her use her new bank card for transactions it would be continually denied, Voigt said. The defendant, who was still on the account, was allegedly denying all the transactions and reporting them as fraud, Voigt said.

When the victim eventually straightened things out at the bank, she ended up withdrawing the remaining funds of about $48,000, Voigt said.

The defendant’s bail was set at $373,000 at the arraignment Thursday in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana. Lawshawn Owens was ordered to return to court for a pretrial hearing Dec. 16 in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.