Cousin convicted of killing 17-year-old Zion Foster and dumping his body

Lina PortmanJune 3, 2024

0 3 minutes read

Detroit — A Detroit man who killed his cousin and dumped her body in a dumpster will serve at least 43 years in prison after a Wayne County judge ruled he had little chance of rehabilitation and he had not accepted responsibility for his actions.

On Monday, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Donald Knapp exceeded guidelines and sentenced Jaylin Brazier to 38 to 90 years in prison for second-degree murder and five to 10 years for tampering with evidence, to to serve consecutively, for the murder of his cousin. , Zion Foster, 17 years old.

Zion's mother, Ciera Milton, expressed her pain at not being able to visit or talk to her child because his body was never found despite a six-month search at a Macomb County landfill.

“My child, Zion, had just turned 17,” Milton said, addressing the courtroom via Zoom. “She didn't get to see her diploma, she didn't get to attend prom, she didn't get to get her first license, her wedding , his family or a career… The convicts took all this and much more.”

The conviction comes after a Wayne County jury deliberated for less than an hour in mid-May before finding Brazier, 24, guilty.

Milton said Zion's five siblings struggled with his death; they were suicidal, had to be hospitalized, were put on medication, tried to drop out of school, she said. She said she also struggled as a single mother to care for them, despite her own desire to fall apart.

“Zion, the life of the party, she was my firstborn, my best friend,” Milton said. “He stole my baby. He stole my opportunity to even say goodbye. He stole my artist, my architect. He stole my singer and my songwriter. He stole my He stole and he stole my babies and he stole from the world what would have been and what should have been a great human being.

Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Elsey asked for a sentence above the “significantly insufficient” guidelines, which called for an 18- to 31-year prison sentence for second-degree murder. He called Brazier a “dangerous and manipulative individual.”

Knapp agreed that an above-guideline sentence was necessary in this case.

“He remains largely unable to accept responsibility for his unquestionable behavior,” Knapp said. “(He told the probation officer who wrote up the pre-sentence investigation) 'I didn't murder her but the jury found me guilty.' … This shows that he is incapable of accepting responsibility for the suffering he has caused Zion Foster's family.”

Knapp said it was unlikely Brazier could be rehabilitated and said he took advantage of Zion's youth and naivety. When she became a liability, he “got rid of her mercilessly,” Knapp said.

Brazier acknowledged that he caused Milton, his family and his own family “massive trauma.” He denied ever hurting Zion, including sexually, and said he apologized and expressed remorse, although he felt his apologies were worthless.

“Of course I caused all of this. I take responsibility for it,” Brazier said. “I'm so remorseful. … I don't feel like what defines a person is not the mistakes we make in the past, but what we do in the future. I ask to give me a fair opportunity to return to my future.”

Brazier's attorney, Brian Brown, said the guidelines took into account Brazier's interference with justice and the damage he caused Zion's family. He eventually told the truth and told police what happened and where Zion's body was, Brown said. The jury found it did not find Brazier's account of what happened convincing when it convicted him within 30 minutes.

Lina Portman

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