The cousin of missing 17-year-old Zion Foster, has been charged in her murder in Michigan, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office announced Tuesday.
Foster was reported missing January 5, 2022. Police believe she was slain within weeks of her disappearance.
Her cousin, 24-year-old Jaylin Brazier, was reportedly the last person seen with the youth. The day after he was publicly named as a person of interest in the case, Brazier surrendered to police. After initially telling police he didn’t know where she was, Brazier eventually told officials he and the teen were smoking marijuana when she stopped breathing and he “acted off of fear” and threw her body in a dumpster.
In March, he was convicted of lying to Eastpointe police about the investigation into Zion’s disappearance.
Brazier was sentenced to between one year, 11 months and four years in prison, records show.
While Foster’s body was never found after an extensive months-long search in a Macomb County landfill last summer, prosecutors allege Brazier killed her.
Brazier was arrested for her murder on Tuesday, charged with first-degree murder.
“Our hearts go out to the family of Zion Foster. This case is a quintessential example of investigators and prosecutors who refused to give up on her homicide,” Prosecutor Kym Worthy said, per a press release. “For 18 months, investigators put together the evidence. Each piece of evidence in this case was examined and linked together.”
Brazier was expected to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in 36th District Court.
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