EXCLUSIVE: The shattered father of a UCLA graduate student stabbed to death last week in a random daylight attack in Los Angeles blamed politicians for letting criminals run rampant.
“Crime is truly spiking, and we have a lot of criminals on the streets that shouldn’t be out,” grieving father Todd Kupfer, 60, told Fox News.
His 24-year-old daughter, Brianna Kupfer, was murdered Thursday by a person who walked into Croft House, an upscale furniture store where she worked, and plunged a knife in her.
Brianna Kupfer, 24, who was stabbed to death Thursday in Los Angeles.
(Todd Kupfer)
“We have a lot of politicians that somehow forgot about people and think the key to getting elected is to support the lowest rung of our society and to give them rights and somehow that’s the answer to getting votes,” Kupfer said.
Brianna Kupfer was studying design at UCLA and had been working part-time for about a year as a consultant at Croft House on North La Brea Avenue.
“She was a kind soul and always was trying to make herself better and everything around her better,” said Kupfer, fighting back tears. “She cared about people.”
The slain woman loved to sew and made a lot of her own garments by hand.
From left to right, Todd and Lori Kupfer and their children Mikaela, Brianna, Tucker and Brandon. Brianna, 24, was stabbed to death in a random attack Jan. 13 in Los Angeles.
(Todd Kupfer)
“She liked fun clothes and thought they said something about people’s personalities,” he said. “She wanted to create a clothing line.”
Brianna Kupfer graduated from the University of Miami before returning to California to pursue a degree at UCLA.
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“She was the kind of person we need on this Earth,” her dad said. “She was strong and vivacious.”
Kupfer grew up in the Pacific Palisades – about 3 miles north of Santa Monica – where she lived with her father, her mother Lori, her little sister Mikaela and her brothers Tucker and Brandon.
Mikaela, 21, is gutted by her sister’s sudden and violent death, the father said.
The Croft House in Los Angeles. Brianna Kupfer, 24, who worked at the furniture shop, was stabbed to death Thursday by a homeless man, police said.
(Google Maps)
“They were best friends,” Kupfer told Fox News. “She is not doing well. She’s completely broken.”
Todd Kupfer said his daughter was an avid reader who “wasn’t glued to her phone” like many young people. She had traveled extensively – including jaunts to Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Europe – but had more far-flung destinations she couldn’t wait to explore.
She was focused and ambitious and kept a bucket list on her phone, where she mapped out her plans, her dad said.
But those aspirations came to an abrupt and tragic end on Thursday when a man, wearing a dark hoodie, a white N-95 mask, and dark clothing, entered Croft House at about 1:50 p.m., police said.
For no reason, he stabbed her to death then fled out the backdoor into a rear alley, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Surveillance video captured him calmly strolling down the alley toward Oakwood Avenue.
Brianna Kupfer
(LinkedIn)
A customer entered the store 20 minutes later and found Brianna Kupfer dead, lying in a pool of blood, police said.
Kupfer was alone in the store, which was unusual, her dad said. Usually, there were two employees present during business hours.
Police Monday declined to comment on the progress of the investigation, and Todd Kupfer said he had not received any recent updates from detectives.
The murder rate in Los Angeles has soared in recent years and violent crime has rocked even the city’s wealthiest enclaves.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, a Democrat, won over voters last year with promises of sweeping criminal justice reforms that critics say put the interests of criminals before the safety of the community.
“We can’t afford to have the good constantly knocked down by the bad,” Todd Kupfer said.
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“We need to champion [my daughter] as a beacon of what’s wrong and make sure that people recognize that – because it could be their children next, and it’s just an impossible price to pay,” he said.
