PACIFIC PALISADES/WESTWOOD—On Wednesday, October 2, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release that the suspect who murdered UCLA student Brianna Kupfer was sentenced to life in prison.
It was announced announced that Shawn Laval Smith was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of UCLA graduate student Brianna Kupfer, 24, while she worked at a furniture store in the neighborhood of Hancock Park in 2022.
On September 10, Smith was found guilty by a jury of one count of murder and a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait. The jury found that Smith used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife. The case then entered a non-jury sanity phase.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo ruled that Smith was sane at the time he committed the crime, rejecting Smith’s plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Judge Escobedo sentenced Smith to life in prison without the possibility of parole in addition to one year in prison for the use of a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife.
A restitution hearing setting will take place on November 25 in Dept. 126 of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
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. Smith attacked the victim with a knife and fled the scene through the back door. There is no known motive for the attack. He 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 backpack. 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 prosecuted by LADA’s Major Crimes Division and investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.
By Trevor