SLO County man accused in hate crime murder allegedly confessed to stabbing
A Paso Robles man accused of murdering an Atascadero man in a hate crime confessed to killing him with a knife, an investigator who interviewed the suspect said in court on Wednesday.
Tyler Stevens, 21, was charged with the murder of 34-year-old Todd Joseph Pinion, who was reported missing from Atascadero on Oct. 30, 2024. His dog, Spock, was found dead at the base of the Cuesta Grade the following morning.
Police found Pinion’s body three days later on Nov. 2 in a remote area near Tassajara Creek and arrested Stevens.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office charged Stevens with murder and animal cruelty charges and enhancements for a hate crime, a sentencing enhancement related to a prior conviction and use of a deadly weapon, in this case a knife. He pleaded not guilty and denied the enhancements on Dec. 18, 2024.
Wednesday’s preliminary hearing to determine if Stevens would stand trial was the public’s first look at the evidence found in the investigation.
Around half of the courtroom seats were filled by friends and family of Pinion, all proudly wearing rainbow heart stickers and wristbands that read “#JusticeforTodd” and “Spock.”
While on the witness stand, DA’s Office investigator Bryce Lickness told SLO County deputy district attorney Greg Devitt that he interviewed Stevens on Nov. 2, 2024.
According to Lickness, halfway through the interview Stevens said, “I killed him, that’s about it.”
“He said he killed him with a knife” because Stevens said Pinion was trying to do “gay stuff,” Lickness said. Stevens then told the investigator he stabbed Pinion multiple times, Lickness said.
Stevens said they could find Pinion “under a bridge,” or something to that effect, and pointed to Tassajara Creek on a map, Lickness said.
Pinion’s body was found with at least five, possibly six stab wounds, including a lethal blow to his head, according to testimony from Atascadero police officer Christopher Hall. A blood sample showed he had methamphetamines and amphetamines in his system at the time of his death, Hall said.
SLO County Superior Court Judge Crystal Seiler found there was enough evidence for Stevens to face trial for murder and animal abuse. She also found enough probable cause for all the sentencing enhancements, including the hate crime enhancement.
Stevens’ next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 26.
Suspected killer confessed, investigator says
Lickness and two other officers interviewed Stevens on the night of Nov. 2, 2024, at the Altitude Recovery Community, a drug rehab center in Camarillo where he was admitted as a patient at the time.
At the facility, investigators collected a black, bench-made folding knife and a wallet containing Steven’s driver’s license and a Wells Fargo debit card.
Stevens gave multiple different versions of what happened the last night Pinion was seen alive before admitting to killing him about an hour and a half into the two-hour-and-20-minute-long interview, Lickness said.
Pinion had last been seen on security camera footage with Stevens and another man, Garrett Heggarty, at multiple locations between 2 a.m. and just after 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2024, Hall testified. Hall said he watched between 10 and 12 hours of security footage.
In the security tapes, Pinion is seen wearing a fake fox tail, which he often did as “furry,” a community of people who dress up as animal personas to engage in platonic or sexual activities. Pinion also often wore a homemade red and black fox mask, which he was not seen wearing in the footage.
Pinion had been unhoused and “couch-surfing” at the time, and had messaged at least three people on Facebook Messenger looking for a place to stay on the night of Oct. 22, Hall said.
The three men first met at the Motel 6 at 9400 El Camino Real in Atascadero, where security footage shows them getting into a truck together — which belonged to Stevens’ father — at 2:24 a.m., Hall said. Pinion’s dog Spock was with him.
The truck later drove to and parked outside the California Manor apartment complex at 10165 El Camino Real. At around 4:34 a.m., security footage shows a man believed to be Heggarty leaving the vehicle, Hall said.
At first, Stevens claimed he then dropped Pinion off near Santa Margarita, but he later changed his story to say Pinion and Heggarty left the car at the same time, Lickness said.
Stevens later told Lickness an entirely different version of events, the investigator said.
In that account, Stevens allegedly told Lickness that before Heggarty left the truck, Pinion had been talking to him in the backseat about “gay stuff.” In his testimony, Lickness suggested that Pinion was offering oral sex to Heggarty.
Stevens told Lickness this made him uncomfortable and “pissed him off,” the investigator said.
When Heggarty left the car, Stevens said Pinion climbed over the center console to the front passenger seat of the truck, according to Lickness.
That was when Stevens allegedly said he “just reacted” and stabbed Pinion in the head, before stabbing him twice more, according to Lickness’ testimony. Stevens allegedly told the investigator he used the same knife collected from the recovery facility’s safe in the stabbing.
At no point did Stevens say Pinion tried to grope him, kiss him, physically or sexually assault him or do anything else to trigger this “reaction,” Lickness said. Stevens did allegedly say he used “a lot of drugs” that night.
Stevens then said he left Pinion’s body in Tassajara Creek underneath a bridge and purchased a small bottle of bleach to clean his vehicle, according to Lickness’ testimony.
Security camera footage and a receipt from a Chevron gas station in San Luis Obispo showed Stevens making a purchase for a bottle from the home goods aisle later that afternoon, DA’s Office investigator Amy Chastain testified. The same Wells Fargo debit card found in Stevens’ wallet at the recovery facility was used to make the purchase, she said.
During his interview Stevens allegedly told Lickness that he still had Spock with him after the incident. Stevens then released Spock onto northbound Highway 101 on top of the Cuesta Grade, Lickness said.
Stevens did not say he stabbed, ran over or otherwise hurt the dog, Lickness said.
Stevens said he then threw Pinion’s and his own clothing away at his parents house, where Pinion’s suitcase containing his belongings were found later that night, Atascadero police Officer Kellye Netz said.
There was some debate as to whether Stevens’ statements were admissible to the court as evidence.
Lickness testified that he read Stevens his Miranda rights only after his initial confession. This means Stevens’ pre-Mirandized statements are admissible only if he was not in custody at the time.
While the prosecution argued Stevens was not in custody during the first half of the interview, the defense said the circumstances — in a closed room with three armed law enforcement officers present — effectively placed him in custody, which would render his pre-Mirandized statements inadmissible. Stevens made self-incriminating statements both before and after being Mirandized.
Seiler ultimately ruled the statements were admissible for the preliminary hearing only, but that ruling does not carry over to the jury trial and the issue could be subject to relitigation.
Was it a hate crime?
Pinion was openly gay and a member of the furry community — two identities that the DA’s Office argued motivated Stevens to kill Pinion.
Throughout all the presentation of evidence, no witnesses testified that Stevens nor any search of his devices, social media of belongings ever indicated any homophobic or anti-furry sentiments prior to the crime.
During a second search of Stevens’ family home four days later, on Nov. 6, 2024, Pinion’s fox mask was found in a tool cart in Stevens’ at home workshop, Netz said.
Before his death, Pinion had posted about the mask on his Facebook account, proclaiming his pride in making the mask and his excitement for how he felt it represented his identity.
Deputy DA Devitt argued that Stevens took the mask — one of Pinion’s “most prized materialistic possessions” — as a “trophy” of his crime.
“What other motive was there to take Todd’s life other than the fact that Todd was open about his homosexuality?” Devitt said during closing statements.
Devitt argued that because Stevens stabbed Pinion immediately when he climbed into the front seat, the murder was premeditated deliberation with malice of forethought, which “can happen very quickly.”
Stevens’ defense attorney, Matthew Kraut, however, argued there was “no evidence” Stevens kept the mask for any reason.
He said that the stabbing was not a response to Pinion’s homosexual comments but rather an emotional reaction to him climbing over the center console into the front seat, which Stevens perceived as a threat. Kraut said Stevens had been the victim of a similar incident four years prior when he was stabbed in the neck by a woman.
“This is not a willful, premeditated, deliberate murder,” Kraut said. “He just snapped.”
The judge ultimately ruled for trial sustaining all charges and enhancements, including the animal cruelty charge and hate crime enhancement.
The charges against Stevens also carry a sentencing enhancement related to Stevens’ 2023 conviction for assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon, giving him one strike under California’s Three Strikes Law.
Under the law, anyone convicted of a felony after a prior conviction of a serious or violent felony can be sentenced to prison for twice as long as a normal. A third-time offender faces a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Family and friends of victim respond to the hearing
After the day-long hearing, supporters of Pinion and his family filed out of the courtroom with heavy but hopeful hearts.
“It was a very tough and emotional day,” Melody Pinion, Todd’s mother, told The Tribune. She watched the proceeding remotely from Oklahoma, where she lives.
Though it was “difficult to listen to” at times, Melody said she was “super happy about the outcome.”
“That’s one step forward and getting closer to justice for my son and my son’s dog,” she said. “I was really, really happy that he’s gonna have to be held accountable, and he’s gonna have to answer to the charges.”
She said the new information answered some questions she’s had about her son’s death.
“It’s hard not being there, but I’m grateful for the support of my friends who were there,” she said.
She plans to travel to SLO County for the next hearing on Jan. 26.
“Todd was a very loving, open, caring person, and he cared about every living being on earth,” she said. “He was my hippie boy.”
She added: “I was wearing a scarf of his, and I think wearing that brought me some good luck today. I think he was with us.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 1:45 PM.
