Brianna Kupfer.Photo: Facebook
Autopsy results reveal that UCLA graduate student Brianna Kupfer was stabbed 26 times at a luxury Los Angeles furniture store in January, PEOPLE has learned.
She was stabbed 11 times in the chest, which punctured both her lungs, according to the report.
Just before the fatal attack, Kupfer “sent a text to a friend letting her know that there was someone inside the location that was giving her a bad vibe,” LAPD Lt. John Radke said,theLos Angeles Daily Newsreported. “Regrettably, that person did not see the text immediately.”
A customer who came into the store 15 minutes after Kupfer sent the text found her lying on the floor, theLos Angeles Daily Newsreported.
After the attack,the LAPD released video footageof an unidentified man they believed was involved in Kupfer’s murder, calling him armed and dangerous.
Police launched a manhunt, offering a $250,000 reward for the capture of the young woman’s killer.
Shawn Laval Smith.LAPD Headquarters
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According to astatementfrom the LAPD, Kupfer’s attacker stabbed her with a knife before fleeing out the back door.
Kupfer was a graduate student at UCLA who was studying architectural design.
“I’m absolutely devastated for her and her family,” Riley Rea, a co-owner of the furniture store where Kupfer worked,told theLos 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.”
Smith is charged with murder.
Criminal proceedings in the case were suspended while authorities await the results of Smith’s mental health evaluation,Fox News reported.
Smith’s attorneys did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
