Tyler Grant Stevens is charged with the 2024 murder of Todd Pinion of Atascadero, whose body was found in Santa Margarita near rural Tassajara Creek Rd.
Multiple detectives were called to the stand during Stevens’ preliminary hearing on Dec. 10, presenting evidence about how Pinion’s body was found and the moments leading up to his death.
“It’s horrifying," said Mary Jane Jodry, who was in attendance at the preliminary hearing. "You know they have such direct evidence from finding him."
One piece of evidence was a surveillance video showing Pinion, Stevens, and another man at a Motel 6 in Atascadero on Oct. 22, 2024, leading into the early hours of Oct. 23, around the time Pinion was killed.
From there, the men get into a maroon F-150 truck that was later found to be registered to Stevens' father. The three men were then seen at an apartment complex in Atascadero. The third man eventually left, and that’s when authorities believe Stevens stabbed Pinion multiple times.
Stevens said he didn't know the men before meeting them at the Motel 6.
The final witness called to the stand was Bryce Lickness, an investigator with San Luis Obispo County who interviewed Stevens at Altitude Recovery Center, a rehab center in Ventura, which is where he reportedly confessed to killing Pinion.
Detectives also found the alleged murder weapon, a knife, that was in a safe in a locker.
Lickness testified that Stevens told him that he and the rest of the group did a "lot of drugs" that night. He also testified that Stevens told him the killing was a “reaction” and that he was upset at some "gay stuff” Pinion was saying.
Mary Jane Jodry and her husband, Bill, have been family friends of Todd Pinion and told KSBY they knew him for years.
“My daughter was such good friends with him that the two of them went to prom together and his mom and I have wonderful memories of that," she said.
“When you listen to this, you just say to yourself, this was so unnecessary, this should never had happened. You know, there’s no reason for this, there’s no reason for Todd to have lost his life," Bill said.
Detectives also testified that they found Stevens' phone in a park in Ventura and that it had been factory reset on Oct. 25, 2024, at approximately 5:53 a.m.
At the Stevens residence, investigators said they found some of Pinion’s belongings, including a fox mask that he would frequently wear, tucked in a toolbox inside a shop where Stevens worked on a car.
KSBY spoke with Stevens' parents after the hearing, who said that the whole family feels “horribly.”
The judge found cause for Stevens’ case to move forward to a trial. He is due back in court on January 26.
