The suspect arrested in connection with the killing of a man reported missing last week has been charged with murder and animal abuse, along with a hate crime enhancement.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office filed the felony charges Tuesday afternoon against Tyler Grant Stevens of Paso Robles.
A hate crime enhancement was also added. The criminal complaint alleges the crime was committed on or around Oct. 23 with a knife “in whole or in part, because of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation.”
Stevens was booked into the San Luis Obispo County Jail early Sunday morning, a day after Atascadero police located the body of Todd Joseph Pinion a remote area near Tassajara Creek. The 34-year-old was reported missing on Oct. 30 and was last seen, according to police, a week prior.
Following a comprehensive investigation, officers report that they identified Stevens as a person of interest in Pinion’s disappearance.
A separate felony charge of animal cruelty was also filed in connection with the victim’s dog, Spock, who police say was found dead on Highway 101 near the Cuesta Grade on Halloween.
The charging document states while having charge or custody of Pinion’s dog, Stevens did “subject that dog to needless suffering, or inflict unnecessary cruelty upon the dog, or in any manner abuse the dog, or fail to provide the dog with proper food, drink, or shelter, or protection from the weather.”
Stevens has one strike under California’s Three Strikes Law, according to the DA’s office, for a conviction in 2022 for assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon.
Stevens is scheduled to be arraigned in a San Luis Obispo courtroom Wednesday.
He’s currently being held at San Luis Obispo County Jail without bail.
