A suspect was taken into custody in connection with last week’s fatal stabbing of a young woman inside a Hancock Park luxury furniture store, authorities said Wednesday.
The suspect, 31-year-old Shawn Laval Smith, was found and detained by Pasadena police before noon in the area of Fair Oaks and Colorado Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Smith was sought in the Jan. 13 killing of 24-year-old Brianna Kupfer at Croft House on North La Brea Avenue. That day, Kupfer was working alone at the store when someone walked in, stabbed her to death and then left through the back door, according to LAPD.
A customer later walked in and found her dead on the floor. Police said the suspect “was not known to the victim and was a random walk-in to the store.” It remains unclear what motivated the killing.
Kupfer, a Pacific Palisades resident, was as a design consultant for Croft House, according to her LinkedIn profile.
After the stabbing, police shared footage of a tall, thin man in a dark hoodie, sunglasses and a white N-95 mask walking away in the alley behind the crime scene. Different video released Tuesday showed the suspect at a 7-Eleven store — just 30 minutes after the killing.
Smith was named a suspect just a few hours after the video’s release.
Pasadena police said they got a call from a citizen that someone matching the description of LAPD’s murder suspect was on the corner of Colorado and Fair Oaks at 11:15 a.m.
Officers responded to the location, where they spotted Smith in the street.
He was taken into custody without incident and later transferred into LAPD custody once they confirmed he was the wanted man, authorities said.
Booking records show Smith has an extensive criminal history, including an October 2020 arrest in Covina for a misdemeanor charge.
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