A suspect in the murder of UCLA student Brianna Kupfer was recorded committing a brutal stabbing, according to prosecutors.
A furniture store employee is accused of stabbing an architectural design student 26 times while she was working.
The individual accused of murdering Brianna Kupfer is currently on trial, two years following the gruesome stabbing of the 24-year-old UCLA student.
On January 13, 2022, at Croft House, a furniture store in Los Angeles' Hancock Park, Kupfer, an architectural graduate student, was attacked by Shawn Laval Smith, who allegedly stabbed her dozens of times.
"In the prosecution's opening statement, Habib Balian, a deputy district attorney, stated that the evidence would show that the defendant attacked Brianna with such force, determination, and frequency that he bent the steel blade of the knife. Brianna Kupfer was stabbed to death 26 times."
Six days after Kupfer's murder, a person with a long criminal history, Smith, was arrested.
Nathan Hochman, running against LA County District Attorney George Gascon, stated on Planet Chronicle Monday that the murder was brutal.
"Smith, a transient with a criminal history spanning over a decade, was found guilty of murder, according to the prosecution's opening statement. Investigators discovered Smith's knife with his DNA on it, and there was video footage of him at the store. Additionally, an audio recording was found where Smith could be heard pleading with the victim for help, despite her ability to aid him."
In the courtroom, Balian stated, "With her final breath, she said, 'I can help you, I can help you, I can help you.' And he replied, 'It's over, b----, it's over.'"
He recorded himself discussing his repulsive thoughts about women.
Hochman stated that Smith should not have been on the streets that day because he had a criminal record dating back a decade. If the prosecutors had arrested him on his outstanding warrants at the time, he would not have been in the furniture store to kill Brianna Kupfer.
According to FOX 11, prosecutors said that Smith visited six other stores before discovering Kupfer, in search of a woman working alone.
"He wanted to kill women," Balian said in court.
If convicted, Smith could face life without the possibility of parole.
Todd Kupfer, father of Kupfer, stated in an interview with FOX 11 last week that it is intriguing to think about what to say about someone while trying to be authentic and real. However, when one says that the person was an angel and perfect, it never sounds genuine.
"Although it doesn't sound accurate, it was almost entirely true."
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