The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office brought in a slew of law enforcement members to testify in the preliminary hearing of 21-year-old Tyler Grant Stevens, the Paso Robles resident accused of murdering 34-year-old Todd Pinion because he was gay.
Credit: PHOTO FROM MELODY BROWNELL PINION’S FACEBOOK
On Dec. 10, seven witnesses—a mix of DA’s Office investigators and Atascadero Police Department officers and detectives—took to the stand in SLO Superior Court, providing details of the disappearance, discovery, and investigations into the killings of Pinion and his dog, Spock.
Pinion reportedly went missing on Oct. 23, 2024. The Atascadero Police Department discovered his body with stab wounds in a remote area near Tassajara Creek on Nov. 2, 2024. Police identified Stevens as a person of interest, who was booked into the county jail on homicide charges.
The DA’s Office charged Stevens in November 2024 with murder and cruelty to animals. The complaint included enhancements of using a deadly weapon and committing a hate crime.
Stevens’ prior felony convictions in 2022 of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon and evading an officer with willful disregard could increase his prison sentence if he’s convicted of killing Pinion, according to California’s Three Strikes Law.
Through questioning and cross-examination by Greg Devitt of the DA’s Office and Stevens’ attorney Matthew Kraut, law enforcement at the preliminary hearing revealed that Pinion, a frequent “couch surfer” was found dead after being driven around Atascadero in a maroon truck by Stevens.
His body was found with five stab wounds, with a lethal cut to his head, Atascadero Police Sgt. Christopher Hall said at the hearing.
“Pursuant to a search warrant, I collected a black Benchmade knife as well as a black bifold wallet that contained the defendant’s identification card as well as a Wells [Fargo] debit card,” Hall said of his investigation into Stevens.
He testified that he spent between 10 and 12 hours poring over video footage depicting Pinion and Stevens, especially video from an Atascadero Motel 6 and a residential complex called California Manor.
The footage showed Pinion and Stevens entering a maroon truck registered to Stevens’ father, Hall said. While Stevens could be seen driving the vehicle, the sergeant said he didn’t see anyone in the passenger seat even though the video didn’t show Pinion exiting the truck.
Law enforcement testimony also revealed that Pinion was queer, seen on social media, and was wearing items that resembled a fox, like a fox tail, in his last recorded moments.
“[Pinion’s] friends said that the furry community was small in San Luis Obispo County and it was a tight-knit community and Todd himself identified as a fox and went by Todd the Wizard Fox,” Hall said. “[His friend] said Todd was excited by completing his ‘fur-sona’ suit.”
Hall added that the furry community would sometimes meet for sexual activity.
A furry is a person with a strong interest in anthropomorphic animals, often wearing elaborate animal costumes and developing characters known as “fursonas”—a play on the word “persona.”
DA’s Office Investigator Bryce Lickness told prosecutor Devitt that Stevens confessed to the murder during the investigation.
“He said, ‘I killed him.’ That’s about it,” Lickness said. “I did ask him to elaborate, and he said he’s [Pinion’s] trying to do something to the effect of ‘gay stuff.’”
The investigator added that he read Stevens his Miranda rights after he allegedly said he killed Pinion with a knife and that his body was located under a bridge.
In the days after Pinion’s death, his mother, Melody Pinion; family friend Kristi Myrick; and artist Jennifer Del Rio placed a memorial cross near Tassajara Creek bridge where his body was discovered. That cross went missing this November, The Tribune reported.
At the hearing, a group of Pinion’s and Spock’s loved ones wore rainbow heart stickers and colorful wristbands printed with “Justice for Todd” and his dog’s name on them.
Atascadero Police Sgt. Kellye Netz told the court that Pinion’s mother, sister, and acquaintances told her he was openly gay. Law enforcement witnesses confirmed at the hearing that they found no derogatory emails, social media posts, or other documents that indicated Stevens was homophobic.
Netz added that she didn’t see Spock’s body. She heard from community members aware of the missing person and dog posts that Spock was repeatedly run over by vehicles. Spock’s body was found a quarter mile north of the Cuesta grade before it was disposed of by California Highway Patrol.
“It was really only just fur on the road at that point,” Netz said. “[Pinion’s friend] said that Todd never would have just left Spock out there, which is consistent with all his Facebook posts about how much he loved Spock. … If something happened to Spock, something happened to Todd.” ∆
This article appears in Dec 11-18, 2025.