WESTWOOD—The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office disclosed on Tuesday, September 10 Shawn Laval Smith, 34, was convicted in court in the guilt phase of killing 24-year-old Brianna Kupfer while she worked at a furniture store in Hancock Park in 2022.
A jury deliberated for just over an hour in case BA502518 before finding Smith guilty of one count of murder and a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait. The jury also found that the defendant used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife.
The trial will now move into a non-jury sanity phase, set to start October 2. A status conference is scheduled for September 24, Dept. 126 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Smith faces the possibility of life in prison without parole. The defendant is being held without bail.
On January 13, 2022, Smith entered Croft Furniture store in the 300 block of North La Brea Ave. where Kupfer was working alone. He acted as a customer before stabbing her and fleeing the scene.
The LAPD reported around 1:50 p.m., officers from the Wilshire Patrol responded to a radio call of an “Ambulance Assault with a Deadly Weapon” at a business, located at the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue. Officers met with the reporting party, a customer who entered the store and discovered the victim dead on the floor.
Detectives determined the suspect was not known to the victim and was a random individual who entered the establishment. The suspect attacked the victim with a knife and fled the scene through the back door. There is no known motive for the attack. Smith was captured on video surveillance traveling northbound in the alley to the rear of the crime scene.
At the time of the crime he was wearing a dark hoody, sunglasses, a white N-95 mask, dark skinny jeans, dark shoes and carrying a dark back pack. Based on evidence discovered by detectives, Smith was believed to be homeless. The owner of the nearby chiropractic office, Dr. Jennifer Bothelo informed CBS Los Angeles that the suspect came into her establishment asked a few questions and then left.
Kupfer was a resident of Pacific Palisades and a student studying architecture and design at UCLA. She previously attended the University of Miami before returning to California to pursue a graduate degree.
The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.
By Trevor