LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The trial has started for the man accused of killing UCLA student Brianna Kupfer as she worked alone at a Hancock Park furniture store in 2022.
Kupfer was brutally stabbed shortly after she asked one of her managers to call her because someone was in the store “giving me weird vibes.”
By the time the manager saw the message, just four minutes later, Brianna was already dying on the floor of the store, a prosecutor said Thursday.
The prosecution says Kupfer was stabbed 46 times by Shawn Laval Smith, now 34 years old.
Kupfer’s family stepped out of the courtroom when they played an audio recording of what was described as the last seven minutes of her life.
The deputy district attorney says Smith made the recording of his interactions with Kupfer and left the device behind when he fled.
In the recording, a man asks Kupfer questions about the store and furniture, leaves momentarily and returns. After a brief conversation, he tells Kupfer …