Man convicted of stabbing at Hancock Park furniture store – NBC Los Angeles

A homeless man convicted in the fatal stabbing of a 24-year-old UCLA student at a Hancock Park furniture store was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Shawn Laval Smith, 34, was convicted Sept. 10 of first-degree murder for the Jan. 13, 2022, killing of Brianna Kupfer, 24. Investigators said Kupfer was stabbed 46 times in the brutal attack as she worked alone at the Croft house in the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue, near Beverly Boulevard.

After a brief hearing Wednesday morning that included a review or reports from two doctors, a judge concluded Smith was healthy at the time of the crime, which was captured on an audio recording. The judge’s decision allowed the case to move on to the sentencing phase.

In addition to his murder conviction, the jury at trial also found true a special circumstance charge of murder in wait, along with the allegation that the defendant used a knife in the commission of the crime. Smith had pleaded both not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, which necessitated the reason phase of the case, for which the defendant waived a jury trial so that Escobedo could determine whether he was still sane at the time.

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