$250,000 reward offered in killing of Brianna Kupfer in L.A.

Less than a week after 24-year-old Brianna Kupfer was stabbed to death inside the Hancock Park furniture store where she worked, the city of Los Angeles announced a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of a suspect.

The suspect, who remains at large, was seen walking into multiple businesses along La Brea Avenue and the Beverly Boulevard corridor on the day of the stabbing Thursday, said L.A. Police Chief Michel Moore.

“This individual responsible for this vicious, senseless and brutal crime walks amongst us,” he said during a news conference Tuesday.

Surveillance footage shows the suspect walking past people and into multiple businesses Thursday, Moore said. Police believe the suspect was not known to Kupfer, and a motive was not clear.

The LAPD released video Tuesday showing the suspect inside a nearby 7-Eleven store about 30 minutes after the killing.

Police described the suspect as a tall, thin Black man with braided hair, who was last seen wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, black tennis shoes and a white mask. Police believe the suspect is homeless but would not elaborate on the evidence behind that theory, pointing only to a “distinct backpack” he wore on the day of the killing.

Anyone with information is asked to call West Bureau homicide investigators at (213) 382-9470. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

About 1:36 p.m. Thursday, Kupfer sent a text message to a friend saying she was feeling uneasy about a person in the Croft House furniture store on La Brea where she was working alone, according to the LAPD.

The friend did not immediately respond to her message.

About 1:50 p.m., a customer found her on the floor covered in blood. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the LAPD.

Kupfer’s death has “shaken and shocked our community to its core,” said Councilman Paul Koretz, who made a motion for the city to offer a $50,000 reward, which was increased to $250,000 by contributions from the community.

Moore said he sympathized with Kupfer’s family.

“As a father, as a police professional, as just a human being — the unimaginable pain that they must be going through losing a 24-year-old daughter, who had a bright and optimistic future and every promise of those brighter days,” Moore said.

Kupfer was a bright light wherever she went, her father, Todd Kupfer, said when reached by phone.

“But her candle got snuffed out way too young,” he said.

Todd Kupfer said he hoped the reward would help lead to the arrest of the person who killed his daughter.

“She loved to dance. She was good at socializing when it was her environment. She loved to laugh,” he said.

Kupfer was one of four children, all of who grew up in Los Angeles, her father said. She ran track and was on the dance team at Brentwood High School before she went to the University of Miami.

She was taking online online courses for a degree in architecture and design at UCLA, Todd Kupfer said.

“She loved geometrical patterns, she loved design and drawing,” he said.

Kupfer started working at Croft House because it was a sustainable furniture company and she was passionate about such causes, her father said.

The Kupfer family plans to create a foundation to honor her memory, but Todd Kupfer doesn’t know what shape it will take.

“It’s just so heart wrenching,” Todd Kupfer said. “It’s torn us apart. We really don’t know what to do and what steps to take. We just want her life to have more meaning.”

Since Kupfer’s death, friends have approached her father to express how much love she brought to their lives.

Just before the pandemic, the father and daughter took a trip to Northern California to pick up a dog, a silver Labrador they named Remi. This past Christmas, Todd Kupfer’s four children got their parents a blanket with Remi’s picture.

“This Christmas, I was telling everyone how great it was that we were so close as a family,” Todd Kupfer said. “It was at a point now, where everyone was happy and knew where they wanted to go. Brianna was the star of that group.”