The conviction came after a jury deliberated for just over an hour
Shawn Laval Smith was convicted Tuesday of the 2022 murder of 24-year-old Brianna Kupfer, who was fatally stabbed while working alone at a Hancock Park furniture store.
A Los Angeles County jury found Smith guilty of first-degree murder and additional allegations of lying in wait and using a deadly weapon, a knife, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The conviction came after a jury deliberated for just over an hour, finding that Smith targeted Kupfer, a UCLA graduate studying architectural design, as she worked at the store on North La Brea Avenue on Jan. 13, 2022. “Brianna Kupfer was a promising young woman whose life was tragically taken far too soon,” said District Attorney George Gascón in a statement following the verdict.
CBS News reports that Deputy District Attorney Balian described Smith as hunting for “a woman who’s alone, vulnerable, isolated, and unsuspecting,” ultimately targeting Kupfer .
Authorities apprehended Smith in Pasadena following a citywide manhunt and the offer of a $250,000 reward, according to CBS News. He was arrested several days after the killing and subsequently charged with murder .
The brutal nature of the crime shocked the community. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Kupfer was stabbed 46 times. Smith fled the scene but was quickly identified as the suspect through surveillance footage and witness accounts .
With the trial moving into the sanity phase on October 2, the court will now determine if Smith was mentally competent at the time of the attack. If found sane, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. A status conference is scheduled for September 24.
