The family of a UCLA graduate student is reeling after the 24-year-old died from a random attack.
Brianna Kupfer was working in Los Angeles at Croft House on North La Brea Avenue. It was January 13 when the consultant found herself at the high-end furniture store alone. Just before 2 p.m., a man believed to be homeless entered 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 did not see the text immediately," said Lt. John Radtke of the Los Angeles Police Department. Minutes later, the man stabbed Kupfer to death.
Surveillance footage shows the man exchanging a few words with Kupfer before pulling out a knife. He left the store from the back entrance, completely composed. He was last spotted walking down an alley away from the scene.
It was 20 minutes before a customer entered the store and discovered Kupfer. They called 911, but the design consultant, who was studying architectural design, was already gone. Her family, who expected her to be flying to New York later that day, was shocked by the news.
"She always wanted to make sure everyone around her was having a good time," dad Todd Kupfer told the New York Post. He also remembered his daughter's love of dance and passion for sustainability.
Todd Kupfer feels Los Angeles has gotten too lenient on crime in recent years.
"I think our city leaders need to make smarter decisions about what they do with criminals and how they incarcerate them," he shared.
"I get it, there is a lot of racial injustice. But it doesn't change the fact that somebody who is doing evil shouldn’t just get a slap on the wrist. Unfortunately, this is what we are seeing now."
Riley Rea, a co-owner of the Croft House furniture store, shared fond memories of her employee of around one year.
"I'm absolutely devastated for her and her family," Rea told The Los Angeles Times.
"It just seems so disgusting and unexpected. Really there are no words to say how shocked we are to lose such a wonderful person."
It's since been revealed that the suspect stopped at the nearby chiropractic office of Dr. Jennifer Botelho shortly before the attack.
"He came in and asked a couple of questions: 'Do you do orthopedics here?' What kind of care we provide, and then he left. So he was just here for a few minutes,” Botelho told CBS Los Angeles.
"It's terrifying. It's horrible," Botelho continued.
"She's such a young girl. We feel so horrible for Brianna's family, and hope we can catch this guy."
Despite canvassing the area and collecting all available surveillance footage, police have yet to catch their suspect, 31-year-old Shawn Laval Smith.
"The detectives felt really confident that the surveillance videos and various information they had would lead them to positive identification," Todd Kupfer told the New York Post.
"I don't know exactly what the break was but the detectives told me they were working. These are good detectives who really care about their jobs and who were working very diligently and they were reassuring me that this was something they're working on 24/7."
