SLO County murder case will be tried as a hate crime. What to know
A Paso Robles man accused of murdering an Atascadero man because he was gay appeared in court Tuesday for a hearing to discuss whether the alleged act was a hate crime or not.
Tyler Stevens, 23, 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 next morning.
Police found Pinion’s body on Nov. 2, 2024, in a remote area near Tassajara Creek and arrested Stevens.
Days later, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office charged Stevens with murder and animal cruelty charges. He also faces three sentencing enhancements for a hate crime, a prior conviction and use of a deadly weapon — in this case a knife — as well as another special hate crime allegation that carries a life sentence without parole.
Stevens pleaded not guilty and denied the enhancements on Dec. 18, 2024, but an investigator who had interviewed Stevens said he admitted to murdering Pinion during the Nov. 2, 2024, interview.
According to court documents, Stevens and Pinion were in a maroon truck on Oct. 23, 2024, with Stevens driving and Pinion in the back seat. When Pinion climbed over the center console to reach the front passenger seat of the truck, Stevens stabbed Pinion five to six times with his folding knife, with at least one fatal stab wound to Pinion’s head, according to court documents.
Tuesday’s hearing was a motion to dismiss the hate crime enhancement for Stevens. Stevens’ parents and loved ones of Pinion both sat in the gallery of the courtroom on opposite sides of the aisle.
The prosecution argued Stevens killed Pinion because he was gay, but the defense said Pinion’s sexuality was unrelated to the alleged crime.
“Correlation does not equal causation,” defense attorney Laura M. Petty said in her opening statement before the motion was reviewed.
Petty went on to argue that there is no sufficient evidence that Stevens killed Pinion for the reason that he was gay.
In a search of Stevens’ phone records, email and social media after he was arrested, investigators “did not find anything … that was homophobic or that would indicate he had any animosity toward homosexuals or furries,” Petty’s motion said.
Court documents stated that Pinion was a “furry,” a community of people who dress up as animal personas to engage in platonic or sexual activities. Pinion was seen wearing a fake fox tail in Facebook photos and security tapes, and also owned a homemade red and black fox mask.
In response to the defense’s argument, Deputy District Attorney Greg Devitt said that Stevens factory reset his phone after the alleged murder.
Devitt also said that the defense’s motion ignored evidence from before and after Pinion’s murder, such as Stevens saying he was “pissed off” when Pinion offered oral sex to another man and Stevens keeping a “trophy” of his killing.
When Stevens’ residence was searched on Nov. 6, 2024, officers found Pinion’s fox mask and a dog leash inside a tool cart in a garage where Stevens was working on restoring a car.
“The reason he killed Todd is because he was gay, and we know that because the defendant kept the fox mask,” Devitt said. “Why did he keep the fox mask, other than a trophy, other than to illustrate that he killed this person because he was gay and wanted to relive the experience?”
Judge Jesse J. Marino ultimately denied the motion to dismiss Stevens’ hate crime enhancement, which could add up to three years onto his sentence.
If convicted of premeditated first-degree murder, Stevens faces life in prison without parole. The DA’s Office said it would not pursue the death penalty for the hate crime special allegation, which is separate from the enhancement.
If found guilty of a lesser charge like second-degree murder, he faces a maximum sentence of 39 years to life in prison with opportunity for parole sooner as a youthful offender because he is under 26 years old.
Marino cited the evidence of Pinion’s offering oral sex and the fox mask being found in Stevens’ shed in his decision.
“I see that as substantial evidence supporting the notion that this could have been motivated by the defendant being displeased that the victim was gay, and that caused him to decide to kill him,” Marino said.
Stevens is expected back in court on Aug. 3 for a trial setting conference.
Pinion’s family is working on placing a new memorial for the man near the area where he was killed after a rainbow cross commemorating him and his dog’s lives was unexpectedly removed.
This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 1:41 PM.
