Father, daughter accused of kidnapping, beating woman, leaving in desert to die

LOS ANGELES -- A father and daughter are accused of kidnapping a woman in North Las Vegas, bringing her to Palmdale, beating and sexually assaulting her, and then leaving her for dead in the desert, officials said.

The alleged victim was found alive by military police on a routine patrol outside of Edwards Air Force Base on Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
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"She's very lucky to be alive," said Capt. Eddie Hernandez with the Major Crimes Bureau of the LASD.

Stanley Alfred Lawton, 54, of Palmdale and Shaniya Nicole Poche-Lawton, 22, have been arrested in connection with the brutal allegations.

Authorities say the two kidnapped the victim, a woman in her 40s whose identity is not being released, drove her to Stanley Lawton's home in Palmdale and held her there for at least a week. They allegedly beat her, sexually assaulted her and brought her to an ATM and forced her to withdraw money.



Officials say the suspects previously knew the victim, but the exact nature of their prior relationship was unclear.
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After the MPs found the disoriented woman near a highway, law enforcement was alerted, the woman was hospitalized and treated and then she was returned to North Las Vegas.



"It's a vicious case," Hernandez said. "It's at gunpoint by force, that victim is then transported across state lines, held in a house inside a room for at least a week."

"At some point she was sexually assaulted, and then left for dead."

It was unclear why the suspects left her alive in the desert, he said.