Veteran homicide detective weighs in on LA furniture store killing
Ted Williams talks to Charles Payne about hunt for suspect in Brianna Kupfer stabbing
UCLA graduate student Brianna Kupfer was stabbed to death Thursday in what police described as a random daylight attack at the luxury furniture store where she worked in Los Angeles.
FATHER OF SLAIN UCLA GRAD STUDENT BLAMES POLITICIANS FOR CRIME SPIKE
Kupfer, 24, had only been working at Croft House on North La Brea Avenue for about year when she was murdered, her dad, Todd Kupfer, told Fox News.
Breanna Kupfer LinkedIn (linkedIn | Fox News)
She worked part-time as a consultant at the high-end retailer popular with celebrities –including actress Mandy Moore.
BRIANNA KUPFER SENT PAL OMINOUS TEXT BEFORE SHE WAS STABBED TO DEATH
The day she was killed she was supposed to fly to New York for the weekend to celebrate her friend's birthday.
From left to right: Todd and Lori Kupfer with their children Mikaela, Brianna, Tucker and Brandon. Brianna Kupfer was stabbed to death Jan. 13 in a random daytime attack. (Todd Kupfer)
Her father said she had a smile that lit up a room and a big heart.
"She was a kind soul and was always trying to make herself better and everything around her better," Kupfer told Fox News in an interview Monday. "She cared about people."
The suspected killer of 24-year-old UCLA grad student Brianna Kupfer appeared on surveillance video at a nearby 7-Eleven store buying a vape pen just 30 minutes after her murder. (LAPD)
She grew up in Pacific Palisades, an affluent neighborhood in West Los Angeles, with her parents Todd and Lori Kupfer, her little sister Mikaela, 21, and her brothers, Brandon, 26, and Tucker, 19.
Mikaela was her best friend and the two were inseparable.
"They were all incredibly good friends," Todd Kupfer said of the siblings. "It was an incredible family. We had gotten so lucky: four children who were healthy and happy."
Los Angeles police are asking for the public's help in tracking down the man who stabbed to death UCLA graduate student Brianna Kupfer in a random daytime attack while working at Croft House, a luxury furniture store. (Courtesy of Todd Kupfer)
Kupfer attended Brentwood High School then earned a bachelor's degree in public relations from the University of Miami.
After graduating, Kupfer returned to Los Angeles to study interior design at UCLA.
She was very artistic," her dad said. "She liked drawing and took to design very easily. She ultimately wanted to do something more entrepreneurial."
UCLA GRAD STUDENT STABBED TO DEATH WHILE WORKING AT LA LUXURY FURNITURE STORE
Kupfer loved to sew and had dreamed of launching her own clothing line one day, he said.
Police are hunting for the suspect who was captured on surveillance video buying a vape pen at 7-Eleven 30 minutes after the slaying. There is no known motive for the murder. Police identified the suspect as 31-year-old Shawn Laval Smith.
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Authorities are offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to the killer's arrest. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).
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