Community mourns UCLA grad student killed in brutal stabbing
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LOS ANGELES (NewsNation Now) — A vigil took place Thursday outside the store where Brianna Kupfer lost her life exactly one week ago.
The 24-year-old had texted a friend about getting “bad vibes” from a man in the Los Angeles furniture store where she worked. Police said she was alone in the Croft House in the Hancock Park neighborhood when she was stabbed.
“It’s my neighbor, my neighborhood,” said Pamela Edgar, who lives in the area. “A beautiful girl and I feel bad for the family and what she could have been.”
Hundred of people came to the vigil to pay their respects and send their support to the Kupfer family, including many of their friends and neighbors.
“I can’t imagine what they’re going through,” said John Beaver, a Pacific Palisades resident. “I reached out to them a little bit and they’re surviving, but how can you live through this?”
The family did not attend the vigil, but sent NewsNation this message:
“We very much appreciate that this is happening but it will be too difficult for any of us to attend. The attention is better served just being about Brianna right now.”
Kupfer family
“I had a lot of important things to do today but I needed to come here,” said Becky Ross, who lives near the store. “Her life had so much promise, it’s just like, I can’t believe it.”
The greater Los Angeles community had helped to push the reward to $250,000 for information leading to a suspect’s identity, arrest and conviction.
On Wednesday, authorities arrested Shawn Laval Smith, 31, in connection with her slaying. Someone recognized Smith from photos distributed by the LAPD as he used the restroom inside a restaurant in Pasadena and police in the Los Angeles suburb took him into custody at a bus bench, KCBS-TV reported.
“Detectives have determined the suspect was not known to the victim and was a random walk-in to the store,” police said. “The suspect attacked the victim with a knife and fled the scene through the back door.”
A customer found her dead about 20 minutes later, police said.
Smith is a transient who has been seen in several Southern California cities along with San Diego and San Francisco, police said. He had a history of arrests.
Kupfer was one of four children, graduated from the University of Miami and was working on a master’s degree in architectural design at UCLA.
