The suspect arrested in connection with the killing of a man who was 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.

An improvement to hate crimes has also been added. The criminal complaint alleges the crime was committed on or about 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 jail early Sunday morning, a day after Atascadero police located the body of Todd Joseph Pinion a remote area near the Tassajara stream. The 34-year-old was reported missing on Oct. 30 and was last seen, according to police, a week before.

Atascadero Police Department

Following an extensive investigation, officers report that they have identified Stevens as a person of interest in Pinion’s disappearance.

A separate animal cruelty charge was also filed in connection with the victim’s dog, Spock, who police say was found dead on the 101 Freeway near Cuesta Grade on Halloween.

The charging document states that while in charge or custody of Pinion’s dog, Stevens “subjected that dog to unnecessary suffering or caused unnecessary cruelty to the dog or abused the dog in any way or failed to provide the dog with adequate food, drink. , or shelter, or protection from the weather.”

Stevens has a strike under California’s Three Strikes Law, according to the district attorney’s office, for a 2022 conviction for assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon.

Stevens is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in a San Luis Obispo courtroom.

He is currently being held at the San Luis Obispo Jail without bond.