A homeless man was convicted on Tuesday of stabbing a student 46 times and leaving her bleeding in 2022.
The killer has been identified as Shawn Laval Smith, 34, had been found 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, New York Post reported.
The district attorney office said that the madman was “hunting for a woman alone” when he ambushed 24-year-old Kupfer at the boutique furniture store where she worked.
Smith on January 13, 2022, entered a furniture store in the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue where Kupfer was working alone. Smith acted as a customer before stabbing her and fleeing the scene, leaving behind an audio recorder that he used to document the attack and a filet knife — bent in the frenzied attack and smeared in Kupfer’s blood with Smith’s DNA on the handle — at the scene cops reveled.
LA County Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian described Smith as a Hannibal Lecter-style sicko who got his kicks from the idea of slaughtering women.
“This man hated women,” Bailan said in his closing argument, according to NBC LA. “It’s easier probably to sleep at night to think something is wrong with him rather than face the truth that this man was on a crusade to hunt, to destroy and to kill for the mere fact that she was female.”
“Brianna Kupfer was a promising young woman whose life was tragically taken far too soon,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said. “I thank the jury for their thoughtful deliberation and dedication in finding the defendant guilty.
“A bright and talented 24-year-old UCLA student, Brianna was dedicated to her studies in architectural design, with her whole future ahead of her,” the DA said. “Our hearts are with Brianna’s family, who have shown incredible strength and resilience throughout this harrowing ordeal.”
Defense attorney Robert Haberer argued that Smith’s butchery wasn’t premeditated.
“It sounds like he was blowing off steam, probably because he was pissed off about something in that moment. Who the hell knows what it was?” ABC 7 quoted him as saying.
In closing arguments, Bailan said Smith “used her kindness against her,” ABC7 quoted him as saying. “When he was close and he was safe and her guard was down…left her bloody on the floor.”
He faces a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. However, first a judge must determine whether he was sane at the time of the attack.
The trial will now move into a non-jury sanity phase, set to begin Oct. 2. A status conference is scheduled for September 24, department 126 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Smith faces the possibility of life in prison without parole. The defendant is being held without bail.
The killer has been identified as Shawn Laval Smith, 34, had been found 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, New York Post reported.
The district attorney office said that the madman was “hunting for a woman alone” when he ambushed 24-year-old Kupfer at the boutique furniture store where she worked.
Smith on January 13, 2022, entered a furniture store in the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue where Kupfer was working alone. Smith acted as a customer before stabbing her and fleeing the scene, leaving behind an audio recorder that he used to document the attack and a filet knife — bent in the frenzied attack and smeared in Kupfer’s blood with Smith’s DNA on the handle — at the scene cops reveled.
LA County Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian described Smith as a Hannibal Lecter-style sicko who got his kicks from the idea of slaughtering women.
“This man hated women,” Bailan said in his closing argument, according to NBC LA. “It’s easier probably to sleep at night to think something is wrong with him rather than face the truth that this man was on a crusade to hunt, to destroy and to kill for the mere fact that she was female.”
“Brianna Kupfer was a promising young woman whose life was tragically taken far too soon,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said. “I thank the jury for their thoughtful deliberation and dedication in finding the defendant guilty.
“A bright and talented 24-year-old UCLA student, Brianna was dedicated to her studies in architectural design, with her whole future ahead of her,” the DA said. “Our hearts are with Brianna’s family, who have shown incredible strength and resilience throughout this harrowing ordeal.”
Defense attorney Robert Haberer argued that Smith’s butchery wasn’t premeditated.
“It sounds like he was blowing off steam, probably because he was pissed off about something in that moment. Who the hell knows what it was?” ABC 7 quoted him as saying.
In closing arguments, Bailan said Smith “used her kindness against her,” ABC7 quoted him as saying. “When he was close and he was safe and her guard was down…left her bloody on the floor.”
He faces a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. However, first a judge must determine whether he was sane at the time of the attack.
The trial will now move into a non-jury sanity phase, set to begin Oct. 2. A status conference is scheduled for September 24, department 126 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Smith faces the possibility of life in prison without parole. The defendant is being held without bail.
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