Brianna Kupfer murder: Autopsy shows woman was stabbed 26 times at Hancock Park store

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Autopsy of UCLA graduate student reveals she was stabbed 26 times
New details have been released in the death of UCLA graduate student Brianna Kupfer.

HANCOCK PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- More than six months after UCLA graduate student Brianna Kupfer was brutally attacked as she worked alone at a Hancock Park furniture store, new details have been released about the killing.

According to the coroner's autopsy report, Kupfer was stabbed 26 times during the attack. The 24-year-old sustained stab wounds all over her body, including both arms and legs. The coroner documented an additional 20 cutting or "incised" wounds on her body and limbs.

Police said Shawn Laval Smith stabbed Kupfer to death while she was working at a store on the 300 block of North La Brea Ave on Jan. 13.

UCLA grad student Brianna Kupfer remembered by community at Hancock Park vigil

There was an outpouring of support from the community for loved ones of Brianna Kupfer, the 24-year-old UCLA graduate student who was fatally stabbed while working at a Hancock Park furniture store.

He is accused of fatally stabbing Kupfer and fleeing the scene.

The investigator's report noted that Kupfer observed a suspicious man standing in the store and texted her manager. The man left but then returned a short time later and attacked her, then fled the scene. Her manager did not see the text until after the attack, investigators say.

A bloodstained 7-inch knife with a gray or white handle was found at the scene, the report says.

Smith appeared in court in April but did not enter a plea after experiencing a mental episode during the proceeding.

He's being held on $2 million bail.