Inset, left to right: Ricky Lasher (Yuba County DA's Office) and Amery Sweany (Yuba County Sheriff's Office). Background: Lasher and Sweany in a parking lot shortly before her death (YCDA).
A 41-year-old California man will spend more than two decades in prison for stalking and stealing from a woman before running her over in an orchard as she fled and then "leaving her for dead."
Ricky Singh Lasher was sentenced Monday by Yuba County Judge Julia Scrogin to 24 years in state prison after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the 2023 death of Amery Sweany and admitting to a separate 2024 felony sexual battery charge. Lasher had initially been charged with murder.
Investigators had no suspect in Sweany's death at first. Tire tracks through grass in an orchard and injuries to her body suggested she had been run over, and an autopsy later determined she died from blunt force injuries consistent with being struck by a vehicle, the Yuba County District Attorney's Office said in a news release.
A witness came forward after reading about the case in the Appeal-Democrat, a local newspaper, giving investigators information that led to Lasher's arrest in 2024, about a year after Sweany died.
The witness had picked Sweany up in Yuba City and spent the evening with her on April 26, 2023. After they parted ways at a Jack in the Box in Marysville, in the northern part of the state's Central Valley region, Sweany went to a parking area near a Habit Burger and an ampm convenience store.
"Video showed that Lasher left and returned multiple times seemingly circling Amery, approaching her over and over again," the release states. "Amery appeared increasingly agitated each time Lasher returned and eventually walked away from him and into the ampm. Lasher picked up Amery's bag — which held everything she owned in this world — put it into the truck, and drove off."
Sweany remained near the businesses for about 50 minutes before walking down an alley and east on 8th Street. Surveillance video showed Lasher's truck traveling west on the street as she walked away. It was the last recorded sighting of Sweany alive, according to prosecutors.
Investigators examined shoe impressions and tire tracks along the orchard road, tire markings on Sweany's body, and grass and debris recovered from Lasher's rented truck. They also reviewed surveillance footage and witness statements.
Authorities said Lasher persuaded Sweany to enter his truck by offering her drugs — a tactic he had allegedly used before with other women — then drove her to the orchard and attempted to sexually assault her, "just as he had done with other women in the past," prosecutors said.
"Evidence shows that Amery fought and ran, leaving a handful of shoe impressions behind in the dirt road in the orchard," prosecutors wrote. "The tire impressions and the tracks through grass suggest that Lasher followed Amery down the dirt road and then suddenly veered off the road, running her over between the rows of trees and leaving her for dead."
The district attorney's office said Sweany's family agreed to a voluntary manslaughter plea instead of risking a jury trial, guaranteeing Lasher would go to prison.
Lasher also must register as a sex offender for life, and his California driver's license will be suspended for life.
Sweany's sister described her as "compassionate, strong-willed, nurturing and confident." She thanked investigators and the other women who came forward, saying she was "deeply grateful" for their courage in exposing what she described as a pattern of behavior.
Follow Law&Crime:
Comments