August 27, 2025 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

Arrest Made in Murder of Brianna Kupfer

Shawn Laval Smith in police custody

By Sam Catanzaro

Police have arrested a man suspected of the murder of Brianna Kupfer, a Pacific Palisades woman working at a furniture store in Hancock Park.

On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) announced that Shawn Laval Smith as the suspect in the January 13 murder of 24-year-old Kupfer. On Wednesday around 11:50 a.m. Smith was arrested by the Pasadena Police Department in the area of Fair Oaks and Colorado Boulevard.

Kupfer was working at Croft House, a furniture business located on the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue, at the time of the murder. A graduate of both Brentwood High School and the University of Miami, she had been working on a degree in architectural design at UCLA.

Brianna Kupfer

The LAPD says Kupfer immediately had a bad feeling when Smith walked into the store.

“She sent a text to a friend saying there was someone inside the location that gave her a bad vibe. Regrettably, that person sees the text immediately,” said LAPD Lieutenant John Radtke.

Around 15 minutes later, a customer discovered Kupfer stabbed to death. Police say there is no known motive.

The Smith was seen leaving the store through the backdoor and fleeing into an alley, heading in the direction of La Brea and Oakwood avenues.

Riley Rea, a co-owner of the furniture store, told the Los Angeles Times that Kupfer had been working at the business for just over a year and she was intelligent, poised and well-liked by her peers, noting, “she was mature beyond her years.”

“I’m absolutely devastated for her and her family,” Rea said. “It just seems so disgusting and unexpected. Really there are no words to say how shocked we are to lose such a wonderful person.”

Over the past few years, various police departments across the country have arrested Smith. In 2020, Covina police arrested him for a misdemeanor of receiving stolen property not prosecutors did not press charges. Smith also appears to have been released on a $50,000 bond in South Carolina in connection to a 2019 arrest on suspicion of firing a weapon into an occupied vehicle, the NY Post reported. In addition, in 2016 Smith pleaded guilty to attacking a Charleston police officer “but it was not immediately clear what sentence he was given in the case that was closed in 2018,” the Post adds.

“I heard his rap sheet is much worse than that, but that tells you that somebody is not doing their job and there needs to be a change,” Kupfer’s father Todd told the Post. “We all recognize that this could have happened to anybody’s child. It’s just senseless. My daughter was a completely innocent victim and there was 100 percent no provocation.”

in Crime, News
Related Posts

(Video) Come Tour The Willows Community School!

August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025

Sign up for a tour at The Willows and come see what makes our school such a vibrant, inspiring place...

Border Patrol Operation at Playa Vista Home Depot Causes Anger, Arrests

August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025

Witnesses Say Agents Clashed With Bystanders as Two People Were Detained Chaos erupted outside Home Depot on Jefferson Avenue in...

Metro LA’s Aug. 30 Deadline for Public Comment on Sepulveda Transit Draft EIR Approaches

August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025

Community Members Can Weigh In Before the 90-Day Comment Period Closes. Metro is reminding community members that the 90-day public...

Culver City, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and Uni High Gear Up for Early-Season Games

August 26, 2025

August 26, 2025

The Centaurs, Eagles, Normans, and Wildcats Face Key Matchups This Week Football season is heating up across our area, with...

I-405 to See Lane Reductions, Ramp Closures as Pavement Rehab Project Continues

August 26, 2025

August 26, 2025

Drivers Should Expect Delays With Overnight Work Aug. 26–28, Sept. 5 Motorists using Interstate 405 through the Sepulveda Pass should...

Kobe Day Tribute: Lakers Welcome UCLA Newborns With Purple-and-Gold Gifts

August 26, 2025

August 26, 2025

Babies Received Adorable Care Packages in Celebration of “Kobe Day.” Families welcoming newborns at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center and...

Suspect Arrested After Eight-Hour SWAT Standoff in Jefferson Park Shooting

August 26, 2025

August 26, 2025

 Police Say a Man Was Killed and a Suspect Barricaded Himself Inside a Home Hours after a fatal shooting near...

Attorney General Rob Bonta Secures Release of $900M in Frozen Education Funds for California

August 25, 2025

August 25, 2025

Trump Administration Agrees to Release Frozen Education Funds  California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday that the Trump administration has...

“Rich Rollin” Burglary Crew Linked to 92 Break-Ins Taken Down in LAPD Operation

August 25, 2025

August 25, 2025

Ten Suspects, Including Confirmed Gang Members, Face Charges Nearly 100 residential burglaries across the city have been tied to a...

Sawtelle Neighborhood Could See Seven New Small-Lot Homes Under SB 684

August 25, 2025

August 25, 2025

Plans Filed Call for Replacing a Single-Family Residence With Two-Story Homes A proposed housing development could build seven small-lot homes...

18-Year-Old Woman Fatally Shot While Trying to Break Up a Fight on a Metro Bus

August 24, 2025

August 24, 2025

Police Say the Teen Was Killed in Westchester After Intervening in a Dispute  Efforts to break up a fight on...

Chuck Lorre Buys $27.5 Million Bel Air Mansion With Hollywood Regency Pedigree

August 24, 2025

August 24, 2025

TV Producer Closed on the John Elgin Woolf–Designed Estate at a Discount Chuck Lorre, the television producer behind The Big...

Is $1,500 Enough Anymore? The L.A. Tradeoffs Between Address and Actual Living Space

August 24, 2025

August 24, 2025

New Analysis Shows What 1500 Really Buys in the LA Metro In Greater Los Angeles, $1,500 rents less space than...

Two Days, Two Denials: Menendez Brothers Rejected for Parole

August 23, 2025

August 23, 2025

Erik Denied After 10-Hour Hearing; Lyle Rebuffed the Next Day Erik Menendez, convicted along with his brother in the 1989...

Rob Reiner to Attend for ‘This is Spinal Tap’ as Cinespia Wraps Summer at Hollywood Forever

August 23, 2025

August 23, 2025

Cinespia Closes Out Summer: Fan Favorites and DJs Return to Hollywood Forever Cinespia will close out summer with four outdoor...