How Jaylen Brazer’s Lies Led to the Death of Zion Foster
In the early days of January 2022, a simple text message sent by a 17-year-old girl would come to symbolize a tragic mystery that tore a family apart. Zion Foster, a high school senior from East Detroit, was on her way home — or so her last message suggested. What followed was a heart-wrenching search, disturbing revelations, and the unimaginable truth about those closest to her.
The Last Message On January 5, 2022, Zion’s mother, Sierra Milton, woke up to find that her eldest daughter hadn’t returned home. The night before, Zion had completed her shift at Detroit Wing Company and asked for permission to visit her cousin Jaylen Brazer. This was a familiar routine for Zion, as she often spent time with Jaylen, her self-proclaimed “favorite cousin.” Sierra agreed, trusting that her daughter would be safe in the company of family. However, when Zion didn’t return, and her phone went silent, worry began to set in.
Zion’s boyfriend, Vertezz Gonzalez, was the first to notice something amiss. He had been texting Zion throughout the night, the last message he received from her at 12:59 a.m. simply read "OMW" — on my way. But Zion never made it home, and when Vertezz could no longer reach her, his concern grew. By 8:53 a.m., his desperation was clear when he texted her, “Are you alive?”
The Cousin's Lies As panic set in, Sierra contacted Jaylen, who shockingly denied having seen Zion the previous night. In fact, he suggested that Zion had been lying about spending time with him, accusing her of using him as a cover to see someone else. This claim puzzled Sierra, who knew her daughter had left the house with Jaylen multiple times before. Even Zion’s phone’s location data, shared with Vertezz, placed her at Jaylen’s house the night she went missing.
Despite Sierra’s insistence that Jaylen was lying, the East Point Police were slow to act, dismissing Zion’s disappearance as another runaway case. Zion had run away before, but those instances were brief and never without communication. Still, with little help from authorities, Sierra and her community launched their own search efforts, holding rallies, posting flyers, and seeking media attention.
A Deeper Connection Zion and Jaylen were family, but their connection was more complex. Jaylen was cousins with Zion’s former stepfather, and despite a five-year age gap, Zion considered him a close confidant. He was 23 years old, a father of two young boys, and had a long-term girlfriend, Katrina. To Sierra, Jaylen was a trusted family member. To the police, he was cooperative — even inviting officers into his home and showing them security footage to prove Zion hadn’t been there. But something wasn’t right.
Location data, doorbell camera footage from Jaylen’s neighbors, and witness testimonies contradicted Jaylen’s story. One camera captured Jaylen’s car pulling into his driveway around 11:15 p.m. the night Zion disappeared, with two individuals — one male and one female — entering the house. Katrina had been at work on the midnight shift, so the second person had to be Zion.
Then, around 1:41 a.m., the same camera caught Jaylen’s car backing into the driveway, with its trunk facing the backyard. Moments later, Jaylen drove off, only to return minutes later.
Confessions and Lies The search for Zion intensified as detectives began to focus on Jaylen. His story soon began to unravel. On January 19, 2022, Jaylen voluntarily met with detectives and, under mounting pressure, admitted that Zion had been with him that night. But his version of events was shocking: he claimed that after smoking marijuana together, Zion suddenly became sleepy and unresponsive. Jaylen said he panicked, thinking she had died, and, fearing that it would look like he had killed her, placed her body in the trunk of his car.
Instead of calling for help, Jaylen admitted that he drove to a nearby dumpster in Highland Park and disposed of Zion’s body like garbage. Detectives were stunned by the coldness of his confession, but they needed more to fully understand what had happened that night.
Jaylen led police to the dumpsters where he claimed to have left Zion’s body, but weeks had passed, and garbage collection had long since cleared the area. Investigators initiated a massive landfill search, sifting through tons of waste in hopes of finding Zion’s remains. Despite their efforts, the search proved fruitless.
Changing Stories As the investigation progressed, Jaylen’s story continued to shift. He initially told detectives that he and Zion had only smoked marijuana, but later added that they had also taken LSD. This new claim seemed like a desperate attempt to explain Zion’s sudden death, but it only further muddied the waters. Investigators doubted that either marijuana or LSD could have caused her death, and Jaylen’s inconsistencies only deepened their suspicions.
In June 2022, while in custody, Jaylen admitted that the LSD story was fabricated. His original story — that Zion had simply passed out and died — remained, but detectives weren’t buying it. Phone records showed that Jaylen had conducted a full factory reset on his phone just two days after Zion’s disappearance, erasing potentially crucial evidence.
However, investigators managed to recover some of his deleted search history. On January 7, three days after Zion vanished, Jaylen had searched for things like "Are garbage trucks also compactors?" and "How do you know if police are watching you?" These searches painted a chilling picture of a man trying to cover his tracks.
A Twisted Obsession As detectives dug deeper into Jaylen’s digital history, they uncovered disturbing details about his relationship with Zion. Over 4,000 text messages were retrieved from Zion’s old phone, revealing a pattern of manipulation and inappropriate behavior. Jaylen had been grooming Zion for years, sending her sexually suggestive messages and inviting her to his home while his girlfriend was away. Some of the messages were explicit, and Jaylen had even conducted disturbing internet searches related to incestuous and violent pornography featuring cousins.
Prosecutors argued that Jaylen’s fixation on Zion had escalated to a dangerous obsession. On the night of January 4, 2022, they believed Jaylen acted on his twisted impulses, leading to Zion’s death.
Trial and Verdict Despite the lack of physical evidence linking Jaylen to Zion’s death, the prosecution built a strong case based on circumstantial evidence and Jaylen’s shifting narratives. The defense attempted to introduce doubt, suggesting that Zion’s death might have been caused by a medical condition. Vertezz testified that Zion had mentioned having seizures and was on medication for epilepsy. However, Zion’s mother, Sierra, refuted these claims, and medical records showed no history of seizures.
In May 2024, after two weeks of testimony, the jury took only 30 minutes to reach a verdict. Jaylen Brazer was found guilty of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. He was sentenced to 30 to 90 years in prison for the murder, plus an additional 5 to 10 years for tampering with evidence.
Justice Without Closure Despite the guilty verdict, one heartbreaking reality remains: Zion Foster’s body has never been found. The landfill search was called off after six months, leaving her family without the closure they so desperately sought. For Sierra Milton and her family, Jaylen’s conviction brings some sense of justice, but the loss of Zion — and the unanswered questions about her final moments — will forever haunt them.
In the end, this case serves as a grim reminder of the danger that can lurk within families. Zion trusted Jaylen, her favorite cousin, someone she had known her entire life. But in the end, that trust was betrayed in the most horrific way possible.
Zion Foster's story is a cautionary tale about the complexities of family relationships and the unfathomable depths of deception. While justice has been served, the emotional scars left behind will never fully heal.
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