Murder of Brianna Kupfer
| Murder of Brianna Kupfer | |
|---|---|
Publicity photo of Brianna Kupfer | |
| Location | 34°04′38″N 118°20′37″W / 34.0772°N 118.3437°W 326 North La Brea Avenue, Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California, U.S |
| Date | January 13, 2022 1:36—1:50 p.m. (GMT-7) |
Attack type | Crime of opportunity, murder by stabbing |
| Weapon | Knife |
| Victim | Brianna Kupfer |
| Perpetrator | Shawn Laval Smith |
| Motive | Unknown |
| Charges |
|
| Sentence | Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole |
| Verdict | Guilty of both charges |
The murder of Brianna Kupfer occurred on January 13, 2022, in which a 24-year-old University of California, Los Angeles student was murdered by Shawn Laval Smith in Los Angeles, California. Smith, a 31-year-old man with an extensive criminal record, stabbed Kupfer to death in the Croft House store where she was working in the Hancock Park neighborhood. A few minutes later, a customer found Kupfer's stabbed body, covered in blood. Kupfer was pronounced dead that day.
The high-profile search for the murder suspect became one of the biggest in the Southern California region, with a $250,000 reward offered. On January 19, Smith was found and arrested in Pasadena, California, and charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances and use of a deadly weapon during the commission of the murder. The prosecutor in charge of the case said that Kupfer's murder was motivated by Smith's hatred of women.
In September 2024, a jury of the Los Angeles County found Smith guilty of both charges. In October 2024, Smith was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.