A jury is set Thursday to begin hearing the case against a homeless man charged with fatally stabbing a female UCLA grad student inside a Hancock Park furniture store just over 2 1/2 years ago.
Shawn Laval Smith, now 34, is charged with murdering Brianna Kupfer, 24, who was attacked Jan. 13, 2022, while working alone inside the Croft House boutique furniture store in the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue.
The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegation of murder while lying in wait, along with a knife use allegation.
Smith could face a potential life prison term without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged.
Los Angeles Police Department Lt. John Radke said shortly after the killing that Kupfer “sent a text to a friend letting her know that there was someone inside the location that was giving her a bad vibe.”
“Regrettably, that person did not see the text immediately,” he said.
The victim’s body was found in the store by a customer about 15 minutes after the text was sent, with Radke saying that the attack appeared to be completely random and unprovoked.
Smith was allegedly seen on surveillance video walking away from the store through a rear alley. He was also spotted shopping at other stores before and after the killing, police said.
He was arrested just under a week later in Pasadena after a weeklong manhunt fueled by $250,000 in reward money.
Smith has remained behind bars since then.
Superior Court Judge Mildred Escobedo revoked Smith’s right to act as his own attorney during the trial following a contentious hearing in June 2023 in which he directed profanities at the judge during his first appearance before her and abruptly rose from his seat in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
He is now being represented by defense attorney Robert Haberer, who had been appointed earlier as his stand-by counsel in case of a change in the defendant’s ability to represent himself.
Media reports indicated that Smith has an extensive criminal history dating back more than a decade, with more than a dozen arrests in three states.
A day after Smith was arrested in connection with Kupfer’s killing, dozens of people gathered outside the furniture store for a vigil to pay tribute to the young woman’s life and decry the senselessness of her death.
“Bri was the brightest part of anyone’s day who got to interact with her,” Alex Segal, a co-owner of the Croft House furniture store, said then. “She was smart and capable and intelligent. Kind and friendly and just an incredibly driven person.”
Segal said the community is asking “why is this happening,” but said “I don’t know that there … will ever be a sufficient answer to that question.”