LOCAL : Social Worker Stabbed to Death
- Share via
A drifter receiving psychological counseling stabbed a therapist to death today at a county mental health outpatient clinic in Santa Monica, authorities said.
Robbyn Panitch, a licensed clinical social worker, was stabbed numerous times by David Smith, 26, in an attack that occurred about 10:50 a.m. during a session at the Santa Monica West Mental Health Clinic at 1525 Euclid St., police Sgt. John Miehle said. Panitch, who would have been 27 next Monday, died a short time later at Santa Monica Hospital Medical Center.
Two men at the county-run facility subdued the suspect after the stabbing and wrested a 3 1/2-inch knife from him, Miehle said. No one else was injured in the outburst at the clinic. Smith, a homeless man, was booked on suspicion of murder and held without bail, Miehle said.
“(Panitch) had been counseling the suspect for an undetermined period of time,” Miehle said.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
John Orr was a renowned fire investigator who was also a prolific arsonist, and whose thinly veiled novel helped to convict him. In this episode we hear from the fire captain who first suspected him—and from Orr himself.
Madison McGhee is joined by legendary Dateline host Josh Mankiewicz and esteemed L.A. Times Reporter Richard Winton as the three of them dive into all-things Menendez Brothers, the good, the bad, and the still unknown.
NPR climate editor Sadie Babits talks about why the media has long overlooked the climate crisis, and how that’s starting to change.
