Latest / The Mind of a Man / He Wanted to be More Than Cousins_ The Murder of Zion Foster

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He Wanted to be More Than Cousins_ The Murder of Zion Foster · The Mind of a Man

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: The last message that 17-year-old Zion Foster sent before she
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: disappeared stated that she was on her way home. The
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: teenager told her mother and boyfriend that she was going
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: out that night with her favorite cousin, something that she
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: did at least twice a month. But when her mother
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: sought him out for help finding her the next day,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: the cousin delivered some surprising news. That he had not
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: seen or spoken to Zion, he said, in years. Hi there,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I'm Kevin, and welcome to Just Thought Lounge. Today we're
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: taking a look at a missing persons turned murder case.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: It's a story about a family and disturbing revelations about
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: who you can trust. Let's take a look. Mother of six,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Sierra Milton, awoke on the 5th of January 2022 to
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: find that her eldest, Zion Foster, had not returned home
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the night before. Zion was a 12th grader at East
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Detroit High School. She had only just celebrated her 17th
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: birthday in November. Like most teenagers, Zion had experienced a
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: rebellious streak. She had threatened to run away from home
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: and had even done so the year before, twice. Sixteen
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: years old and frustrated with her mother's rules, she had
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: run to her grandmother's house. Convinced to return home, she
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: remained for only a few days before leaving again, that
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: time causing enough concern for Sierra to call the police.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: But it was another false alarm. The teenager was struggling
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: with her granny's recent cancer diagnosis, as well as her
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: own desire for independence. That January morning was different. Zion
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: had completed her serving shift at the Detroit Wing Company
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: the night before. She had asked permission to leave the
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: house after returning home from work. The teenager was honest
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: about who she would be spending time with, her favorite cousin, Jalen.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Under these conditions, Sierra agreed and watched Zion walk out
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: the door. That was shortly before 11 p.m. The next day,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: the 17-year-old's boyfriend, fellow high schooler Vertez Gonzalez, messaged Sierra.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Had she heard from Zion? Because he could no longer
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: reach her. The last text message that he received was
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: at 12.59 a.m. It read, OMW, meaning on my way.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: But Zion didn't make it home. Calls to her phone
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: went straight to voicemail. Messages sent throughout the night were
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: not being received. Finally, at 8.53am, he wrote to her,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Are you alive? Followed by, This is the worst thing ever.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Adding to the distress over Zion's absence was the response
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Sierra received from her cousin, Jalen Brazier. Despite what her
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: daughter had told her, Jalen responded that he had not
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: been with Zion the night before. He asked Sierra exactly
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: how often had Zion claimed that she was spending time
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: with him, once or twice a month, she said. He
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: messaged her back in frustration. Zion's lies about him were
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: sneaky as hell and not safe, he said. But why
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: lie about spending time at his house? He suggested that
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: she was likely spending time with someone who lived near
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: to him. Zion shared location tracking on her phone with
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: boyfriend Vertez. This tracking had placed her just across the
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: street from Jalen's home, at 11.24pm the night before. Vertes,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: admittedly a bit insecure in their relationship, had taken a
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: screenshot of his girlfriend's location at exactly that time. Jalen
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: suggested that perhaps Zion was using him as a cover
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: story when she was in fact at a neighbor's house.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: She must know someone else on the street or nearby.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Jalen helpfully suggested that Sierra go to the police, but
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: he requested to be kept out of it. Vertes was
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: not as easily persuaded. He inundated Jalen with messages. He
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: confronted the 23-year-old with a screenshot from his phone. In response,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Jalen sent back a video of his ring camera system.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: There were no entries showing Zion at the house, he said.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: She was never there. East Point police were not inclined
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: to take Sierra's missing persons report with any sense of urgency.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: her daughter had a history of being a runaway. According
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: to the distressed mother, officers at the station did not
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: mince words.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: The person that's over it now specifically said to us that,
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm going to be honest with you, we're
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: taking this as she's a runaway.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: Receiving little support from law enforcement, she took matters into
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: her own hands. With the assistance of family and friends,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: a search effort for Zion was launched in the following days.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: They posted flyers, held rallies, and spoke to the media.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: We need your eyes. The police need your help.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: We need your help.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: In the meantime, officers were eventually sent out to speak
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: with Jalen Brazier. Jalen, Zion's self-professed favorite cousin, was in
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: fact first cousins with her former stepfather. That is, he
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: was cousins with Sierra's ex-husband. At 23, he was a
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: father to two young children, and he had a long-term partner, Katrina.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Sierra believed that her daughter and Jalen had always been
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: and remained close. According to Jalen, they hadn't spoken in years.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: They found him at home with girlfriend Katrina Smith.
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: What's your name, ma'am?
• 6:20
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: Do you guys know Zion?
• 6:22
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Jalen invited the officers in to look around the house.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: He told them that he had last seen his cousin
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: nearly a year before, in May 2021. Jaylen continued to
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: explain that it was Zion's mother and her boyfriend that
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: seemed fixated on the idea that she had been with
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: him that night. He had offered to show his ring
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: camera footage to Sierra as well. When she took a
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: look at it, the mother thought that there were gaps
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: in entries for footage for the night of January 4th,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: which had obviously been deleted.
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: East Point police.
• 7:12
  Speaker 8: Found nothing suspicious in the search of the house.
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: There were no indications that Zion had been there. They
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: listened while Jalen explained his.
• 7:21
  Speaker 9: Frustrations over being pulled into the drama caused.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: By a 17-year-old cousin.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: With whom he rarely spends any time.
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: I would assume you guys would.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Know that, man.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Jalen may have been fooling the East Point police at
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: this stage, but not Sierra Milton. She did indeed watch
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: to see who her daughter left with from the house,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: and she often greeted Jalen herself in the drive when
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: he came by to collect her. She knew he was lying.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: He told me he hadn't seen or been in contact
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: with her for three years, which is impossible when you
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: were in my driveway and gave me a hug.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: Perhaps the easiest way to verify if Zion had been
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: across the street from her cousin's house, as her location
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: data suggested, was to check the neighbor's doorbell cameras. At
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: about 11.15 p.m. on January 4th, A white sedan, the
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: car known to be driven by Jalen Brazier, was captured
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: pulling into his drive. Emerging from the vehicle were two individuals,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: clearly seen walking into the house, one male and one female.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Jalen had driven Katrina to work at just before 11 p.m.
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: That night.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: She was on the midnight shift at a manufacturing job.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: The shift spanned from 11 p.m.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: To 6 a.m.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: The second individual who entered the house at 11.15 could
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: not have been Katrina. Phone location data would later confirm
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: the two individuals captured entering the home, Jalen Brazier and
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Zion Foster. The camera did not show Zion leaving. At 1.41 a.m.,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: the same camera from across the street captured Jalen politely.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: his car out of the drive and then backing it in.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: The trunk then faced the backyard. After a few minutes,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: the car drove off. It returned to the house less
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: than 10 minutes later. Search warrants were obtained for the
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: house and the car. Inside the house, the search was fruitless.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: The contents of the car were carefully itemized and examined,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: but there was no clear evidence indicating what had happened
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: to Zion. That is, until law enforcement brought in the
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: cadaver dogs. The dogs clearly indicated at the trunk of
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: Jalen's car. On January 19th, the 23-year-old, accompanied by a
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: friend who was a lawyer, voluntarily sat down with detectives.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: It was clear that he had lied about being with
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Zion on the night that she disappeared. Jalen came forward
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: to offer what he claimed was a truthful version of
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: events from that night. He had picked up Zion from
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: her home and brought her back to his place. He
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: put his two children, boys aged one and two years old,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: to bed, then joined Zion downstairs in the living room.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: You guys mix up your weeds, you roll up, you
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: guys start smoking, you're just watching TV.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Just chilling?
• 11:18
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Jalen said they smoked some marijuana, which appeared to make
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: Zion very sleepy. He saw her head tilt back, as
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: though she intended to take a nap while sitting upright
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: on the couch. At that point, he went into the
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: other room to pour himself a drink.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Now, you guys are.
• 11:49
  Speaker 6: Just chilling, and that's all of a sudden she just
• 11:52
  Speaker 6: blinks out like that?
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Um, Jalen reported that Zion's pulse was faint. Then he
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: described her heartbeat as non-existent. His young cousin had simply
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: died on his couch, he said. Instead of contacting 911,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: he panicked. Not knowing how she died, he thought it
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: would appear as though he had killed her.
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: He was getting very, very faint. And her breathing was like, nonexistent.
• 12:38
  Speaker 10: And I knew.
• 12:42
  Speaker 6: I smoked.
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: All we had was weed, normal marijuana. So I freaked out.
• 12:47
  Speaker 5: I'm like, okay, well, this looks terrible. This looks very bad.
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: I didn't know what to do. So I took her.
• 12:54
  Speaker 6: I put her into my trunk.
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: And I put her into my trunk.
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: And I took her to Highland Park. and put her
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: inside of a trash.
• 13:03
  Speaker 11: Can and then I left.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: Detectives queried how Jalen knew that Zion was dead. According
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: to his story, the 17-year-old had inexplicably, very abruptly, stopped breathing.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: He was still alive at that point.
• 13:26
  Speaker 6: He was probably just high or.
• 13:27
  Speaker 8: Whatever, you know, from, you know, the lead.
• 13:30
  Speaker 6: And then we started shaking her She doesn't wake up.
• 13:33
  Speaker 6: You check her pulse, you said.
• 13:34
  Speaker 8: And you can see she's not breathing, not like that.
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: So at that point, what are you doing? Freaking out.
• 13:39
  Speaker 10: Okay, so you're freaking out.
• 13:41
  Speaker 8: And this whole time you've been home.
• 13:42
  Speaker 6: So at that point, we thought she was definitely dead.
• 13:44
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 13:45
  Speaker 8: Okay.
• 13:46
  Speaker 10: Well, was she dead?
• 13:47
  Speaker 6: Do you think she was dead at that point? Or
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: does she still just have pain breathing?
• 13:51
  Speaker 9: If it wasn't anything.
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: There was nothing at that point?
• 13:53
  Speaker 6: Yeah. Okay. You know the difference between dead and alive, right?
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: But she did.
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: She wasn't breathing, so I assumed that was dead. Her
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: heartbeat was like, I couldn't read her heartbeat, couldn't feel
• 14:06
  Speaker 5: her heartbeat or anything. So I would say she was dead, definitely.
• 14:11
  Speaker 10: Okay.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: I want to have you show us the dumpster.
• 14:15
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 14:15
  Speaker 5: Because I don't want to mistake it, and I want
• 14:17
  Speaker 5: to obviously get out there and see if she's still there,
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: and we need to recover, and if not, then we
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: need to do.
• 14:23
  Speaker 8: The steps to locate where she's at.
• 14:25
  Speaker 9: Okay.
• 14:26
  Speaker 8: You're okay with that?
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: Absolutely.
• 14:27
  Speaker 9: All right.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Jalen led detectives to the dumpsters in Highland Park, where
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: he claimed to have left Zion's body weeks before. Jalen
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: told detectives that Zion had been at his home for
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: roughly two hours before she died. This would have placed
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: her time of death at just past 1 a.m. Cell
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: phone records showed her device drop off the network at 1.15 a.m.,
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: corresponding to the time that she stopped responding to messages
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: from Vertez. Jalen told detectives that he had not deleted
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: any data from his device since the night of Zion's death.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: They found, however, that he had conducted a full factory
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: reset of his phone just two days later, effectively wiping
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: everything held on his device. Nonetheless, the movements of his
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: phone could be pieced together. This data placed Jalen at
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: the dumpsters at Highland Park at 1.48 a.m. He claimed
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: to have placed her in the dumpster to the right.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: There was no longer any sign of her there.
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 15:57
  Speaker 8: Where did you park your car?
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Right by it, right in front of it.
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: I get what, sir.
• 16:04
  Speaker 6: I said right in front of it.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Did you back into it or did you pull forward?
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: So you were side by side?
• 16:10
  Speaker 9: Okay. He said that my baby just died. And then
• 16:21
  Speaker 9: that he threw her in a dumpster. Like she was trash.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: When Jalen sat down for a follow-up interview the next day,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: January 20th, inconsistencies began to emerge in his story. He
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: now claimed that the two had taken acid that night.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: It was her response to the psychedelics that must have
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: caused her heart to stop. Of course, this explanation was
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: about as likely as his previous assertion that the marijuana
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: had caused her death. The detective attempted to leverage these
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: new claims to compel a confession. Perhaps Jalen would use
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: the drugs as an excuse for his actions, for whatever
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: steps he took to kill his younger cousin.
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: Did you have like a freaking.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: Momentary, like.
• 17:24
  Speaker 8: Didn't know what you were doing moment?
• 17:28
  Speaker 9: No, no, no.
• 17:29
  Speaker 5: She also, she's going to tell herself.
• 17:33
  Speaker 6: Let me ask you this. The problem with those drugs are,
• 17:36
  Speaker 6: when you're on them.
• 17:37
  Speaker 10: You don't know what you're doing.
• 17:38
  Speaker 6: I mean, that's the reason people take them, right?
• 17:42
  Speaker 8: Did you do.
• 17:42
  Speaker 6: Something when you were, I mean, because again, I'm trying
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: to figure this out, and that would make complete sense.
• 17:48
  Speaker 6: When you dropped the acid, did you have, you know, again,
• 17:51
  Speaker 6: I'm not saying it's okay, but.
• 17:53
  Speaker 10: No, I.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: Was completely comfortable doing it.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Totally.
• 17:58
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: I just think, I don't know if the effect for
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: her was.
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: Positive or because I know it does a lot with
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: your brain.
• 18:10
  Speaker 7: Yeah, it does a lot.
• 18:11
  Speaker 6: I'm going to tell you right now, it makes sense
• 18:15
  Speaker 6: to me now. It all makes sense to me. You
• 18:18
  Speaker 6: understand that, right? Because I'm sitting here trying to figure
• 18:21
  Speaker 6: out how this funniest young guy, Jay, could ever hurt anybody.
• 18:27
  Speaker 6: But it makes sense to me now It's not you.
• 18:30
  Speaker 6: That's not Jay at that point. You understand that, right?
• 18:34
  Speaker 6: If you did something under the influence, I need to
• 18:37
  Speaker 6: know that because that's a big difference.
• 18:39
  Speaker 10: And I can understand that.
• 18:40
  Speaker 6: That I can appreciate.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: The detective failed to elicit a confession. Without this admission
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: and without locating Zion, there was not enough evidence to
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: proceed with an indictment for murder. Jalen was placed under
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: arrest and held in custody for one count of lying
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: to police.
• 19:02
  Speaker 10: He made the police actively deceiving them on the whereabouts
• 19:06
  Speaker 10: of Zion Foster, the health and safety of Zion Foster,
• 19:09
  Speaker 10: and his interaction with her.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: In June of that year, Jalen spoke with detectives again.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: This time, only the audio was recorded. At that time,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: he changed his story once more. Jalen recanted his claim
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: that the two had taken acid that night. That part
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: was not true. Other smaller details of the story changed
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: as well. He no longer described Zion as passed out
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: on the couch. Now she was on the floor. He
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: said that he had felt pressured by police to offer
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: more information, so he made up a more elaborate story
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: to appease them.
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: So I left that out about the LSD, but yeah,
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: we both took a hit at LSD, and it must
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: have hit her different, or hit her wrong.
• 19:55
  Speaker 9: Bullshit.
• 19:57
  Speaker 6: Did you say it?
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: Bullshit?
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah?
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: Or did he, see what I'm saying, he's telling me that,
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to say, is he telling me bullshit that
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: he didn't say, or did you tell him?
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: I don't know, that's why I told him.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: I don't know, I feel pressured to just throw something
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: out there.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Garbage collection trucks working in Highland Park were tracked to
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: specified areas in local landfills. The task of sorting through
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: mounds of trash from all over the Detroit area and
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: compiled over several weeks was a daunting undertaking. An estimated
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: eight-week project was launched. Dozens of volunteers, mostly wearing masks
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: and hazmat suits and assisted by heavy machinery, picked through
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: layer after layer of the landfill systematically. looking for any
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: sign of Zion.
• 20:45
  Speaker 10: We expect phase one to take approximately two weeks, but
• 20:50
  Speaker 10: we're doing what's right for the right reasons, and we're
• 20:51
  Speaker 10: going to do everything we possibly can to bring some
• 20:56
  Speaker 10: degree of closure. It will never be complete closure, but
• 20:59
  Speaker 10: some degree of closure and justice to this family.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: Meanwhile, Jalen Brazier faced up to four years in prison
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: for the lies he had told police. the Detroit Police Department,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: the DPD, assisted by the FBI, continued to seek a
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: warrant for murder. Jalen pled his case to the judge
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: at his sentencing.
• 21:21
  Speaker 7: One, I did turn myself in. Yes, I lied, but
• 21:24
  Speaker 7: I was not in the right state of mind. There
• 21:28
  Speaker 7: was no way for me to prepare for a situation
• 21:29
  Speaker 7: like that.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: I was scared.
• 21:33
  Speaker 7: I don't know exactly how she passed or what caused
• 21:34
  Speaker 7: her to pass. I just know one minute, She was cool.
• 21:39
  Speaker 7: She was fine. She laid back for a minute. Next
• 21:40
  Speaker 7: thing I know, she was dead. I don't know what
• 21:44
  Speaker 7: caused it. I did not cause it or anything like that.
• 21:47
  Speaker 7: I reacted stupidly off of fear and panic like I've
• 21:50
  Speaker 7: never felt before in my life.
• 21:52
  Speaker 8: Literally. You think she dies and then you dispose of
• 21:57
  Speaker 8: the body? Just like that? That was your choice?
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: Did not know what to do. I sat for at
• 22:05
  Speaker 7: least 10 minutes sitting there. Like, what do I do?
• 22:08
  Speaker 7: Who do I call? My kids are upstairs. We just
• 22:12
  Speaker 7: got into this place after struggling for like two years
• 22:14
  Speaker 7: to get it, and everything is falling down. And I
• 22:25
  Speaker 7: wish I could take it back. I would have called
• 22:27
  Speaker 7: the ambulance, called her mom, because her mom is so sweet.
• 22:30
  Speaker 7: Her mom is so sweet.
• 22:32
  Speaker 11: And I just knew.
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: I wish I could take it back. Nobody had been
• 22:40
  Speaker 7: in the situation. At the very least, they had figured
• 22:43
  Speaker 7: it out.
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: Okay, this happened. Confirm this.
• 22:46
  Speaker 7: And everybody has some sort of peace right now.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Jalen Brazier was sentenced to 23 months in prison. Jalen's
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: phone calls home to girlfriend Katrina and other family members
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: were monitored closely while he was in custody. Occasionally, he
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: would use another inmate's calling code to make his phone calls,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: in a failed attempt to keep his conversations private. He
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: was also in possession of a prohibited cell phone, which
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: he used to exchange thousands of messages with Katrina. Repeatedly
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: in his calls, Jalen would ask if anything major happened.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: This seemed to be a poorly concealed attempt to ask
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: whether the massive search of the landfill had located anything,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: or anyone.
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: The most logical and possible one, right, is that there's
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: nothing major, nothing major or new. And due to that,
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: there's a lot of effort.
• 23:51
  Speaker 8: To put together any, yeah.
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: Any types of anything. And that's basically the most logical
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: thing that I came up with statistically. So, continue going.
• 24:03
  Speaker 6: Mm-hmm.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: Jalen's concerns over the search for Zion were telling. If
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: his story was truthful and she had died abruptly from
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: an unknown and nonviolent cause, then there would be every
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: reason for him to want her found. Finding Zion would
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: exonerate him The quicker, the better. Wishing her to be
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: found should also be the sentiment of a loving cousin. Curiously,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: over and over again, he expressed his relief that no
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: major developments had occurred in the search. As the final
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: days of the landfill project drew near, he referred to
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: it as a search for COVID.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: It's real life.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: Today is the first, tomorrow is the second. That's what
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: I love. It's a stop. Jalen served just over nine
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: months before being granted early release.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: He had been placed in a special 90-day incarceration program.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: This boot camp is designed like a military program, in
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: which inmates convicted of certain crimes can better themselves while inside,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: and in turn, they are rewarded with early release. It
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: had been nearly a year, and Zion had not been found.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: An indictment for murder had not been sought, and now
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: the prime suspect returned to his home, and his family.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Why is this man free?
• 26:08
  Speaker 8: What?
• 26:09
  Speaker 9: I can admit to this and still be let free.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Jalen Brazier's freedom was short-lived. On the 13th of June, 2023,
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: after a year and a half investigation, the DPD were
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: finally granted a warrant for arrest. The 24-year-old would face
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: charges of second-degree murder, as well as tampering with evidence.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: Upon his arrest for Zion's murder, two additional cell phones
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: were taken. Despite the factory reset that he performed on
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: his device, investigators were able to retrieve some of the activity.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: His search history had been held in cloud storage. On
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: January 7th, three days after dumping his cousin's body in
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: a dumpster, Jalen performed a handful of Google searches. Are
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: garbage trucks also compactors? What is the force of a
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: garbage truck compactor? How do police get your phone history?
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: And how do you know if police are watching you?
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: In addition to these incriminating searches, investigators found that in
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: the months before the incident, Jalen had performed a number
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: of disturbingly suggestive searches for pornographic content containing the words
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: cousin and step-cousin. Experts were able to retrieve the video
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: results of these searches, some of which were reportedly very
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: violent as well as graphic in nature. As the case
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: approached trial, a preliminary hearing offered more insight into the
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: additional evidence that had emerged since Jalen's release. This hearing
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: also may have offered Jalen's defense team a new theory.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: At the hearing, Vertes Gonzalez testified that he believed his
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: girlfriend was taking regular medication for epilepsy. He told the
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: court that Zion told him that she had seizures and
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: that without her medication, they became more frequent and severe.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: In one instance, Vertes saw Zion become momentarily faint, slouching
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: forward before regaining her composure after just a few seconds.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: This episode, he believed, could have been a seizure.
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: Have you ever seen her have a seizure?
• 28:36
  Speaker 6: Uh, I think so.
• 28:38
  Speaker 5: Yes, I believe so.
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: And while she was having a seizure, explain to me
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: what happened.
• 28:46
  Speaker 5: Sierra Milton, whose youngest child was in fact diagnosed with such.
• 28:52
  Speaker 4: A condition, testified that this.
• 28:55
  Speaker 10: Was not the case.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Zion had never suffered a seizure. Hundreds of pages of
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: medical records covering years of treatment appeared to support Sierra's assertion. Nonetheless,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: Jalen Brazier's version of events was now being presented in
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: a new light. Perhaps Zion's condition led to her death
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: suddenly in his living room. Maybe she had a seizure.
• 29:40
  Speaker 8: Now there are only two people who can say exactly
• 29:43
  Speaker 8: what happened inside of the house that night. One of
• 29:46
  Speaker 8: them is Zion, and she is gone. The other is
• 29:50
  Speaker 8: the defendant, and you will hear that nearly every time
• 29:53
  Speaker 8: he spoke about what happened, his story changed. And although
• 29:59
  Speaker 8: he got rid of Zion's body, you will see that
• 30:03
  Speaker 8: he left behind a trail of digital evidence that is
• 30:07
  Speaker 8: damning and will show you that the circumstances all lead
• 30:11
  Speaker 8: to one and only one explanation for why Zion left
• 30:15
  Speaker 8: his house and trunked his car that night, and that's
• 30:17
  Speaker 8: because he murdered her.
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: He also had a history of seizures and taking seizure medication. Now,
• 30:27
  Speaker 4: on this particular day, She came over to Jalen's house.
• 30:33
  Speaker 7: They were smoking.
• 30:36
  Speaker 4: Jalen told the police after some time that she had
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: shallow breathing and a faint heartbeat. He checked her to
• 30:47
  Speaker 4: see if she was alive and she was dead. He
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: then feared because he was doing drugs, which is still
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: federally illegal, that he could be blamed for something and
• 30:58
  Speaker 4: he panicked.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: Zion's phone disconnected from the network at 1.15 a.m. the
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: same night that she disappeared and was then lost with her.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: But the teenager's previous cell phone was safe at home.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: Sierra Milton handed this device over to police. On it,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: they found months of correspondence between her and her favorite cousin.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: The messages he sent ranged from subtle and unsettling to
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: deeply inappropriate. At times, the messages were sexually explicit. Over 4,000
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: distinct texts were retrieved from Zion's old device. In them,
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: Jalen routinely invited her over to his home while his
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: girlfriend was away. He offered to put her up in
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: his basement if she ran away from home. He also
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: advised her on how she might evade police if she
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: ran away once more. Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Elsie
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: described the texts as pervasive. at times complimentary of her
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: intelligence and looks, at other times probing in an immature way.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: For example, he suggested to her that other people thought
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: that they were a couple. He said Katrina, the mother
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: of his children, was jealous of her. Isn't that crazy?
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: Did that make sense to her? He then bragged to
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: Zion about how easily he could get with women. At
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: one point, he called himself a god. Prosecutor Elsie concluded
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: by telling the jury that the 23-year-old had been grooming
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: his younger cousin for years, that he fantasized about her,
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: and that on January 4th, he must have acted on
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: his impulses. This was the twisted motive that led to
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: her death. Jurors heard about how Jalen learned that Katrina
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: was pregnant with their third child on the day that
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: he brought Zion to his house. Messages between the couple
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: showed how he had lied to her about what he
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: was doing after he dropped her off at work. Earlier
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: that day, her nausea and hot spells had led to
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: a trip to the emergency room. Hours later, the nausea resumed.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: She messaged repeatedly that she felt too ill to remain
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: at work and asked him to pick her up. At 1.25am,
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: she wrote, I think I need to come home. At 1.26,
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: I don't feel good. A few minutes later, Jalen's response
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: was simply, He did finally pick her up that night
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: at nearly 3 a.m. When he did so, she noticed
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: a deep scratch across his collarbone. He told her that
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: the cat had scratched him deep enough to draw blood. Odd,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: Katrina thought. The cat had never scratched that deep before.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: The trial lasted two full weeks in May 2024. Jalen
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: chose not to testify. The state called 32 witnesses. The
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: defense did not call any. The case against Jalen was
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: largely circumstantial, though it was nonetheless compelling. A forensic anthropologist
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: who reviewed Zion's medical history determined that the only condition
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: that she suffered that could possibly have led to her
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: death was asthma. though an asthma attack would present as
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: the exact opposite of what her cousin described. Instead of
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: quietly passing out and experiencing a faint heartbeat, Zion would
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: have been struggling to breathe. It would have been very
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: clear that she was in distress. Fertes repeated his testimony
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: that Zion had told him that she suffered from seizures.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: He also admitted that his girlfriend was known to fib
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: quite a bit. It seems that Zion- had liked to
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: tell stories.
• 34:52
  Speaker 8: When he brought her to his house late at night
• 34:57
  Speaker 8: on January 4th of 2022, behind the back of his
• 35:02
  Speaker 8: pregnant girlfriend, who was at work at the time, he
• 35:06
  Speaker 8: brought Zion over to his house late that night, and
• 35:10
  Speaker 8: she leaves that house in the trunk of his car
• 35:14
  Speaker 8: on a night where he has an unexplained gash on
• 35:18
  Speaker 8: his collarbone. What do you think happened inside that house
• 35:21
  Speaker 8: that night? She died of COVID? She died of a seizure?
• 35:27
  Speaker 8: There's a claim that he did all this. He did
• 35:32
  Speaker 8: what he did because he was afraid of getting caught
• 35:36
  Speaker 8: for marijuana. Afraid of getting busted for pot. You can
• 35:41
  Speaker 8: use your common sense. If you go to a marijuana dispensary,
• 35:45
  Speaker 8: there's not going to be a team of ATF agents
• 35:48
  Speaker 8: waiting to bust you and take you to federal prison
• 35:50
  Speaker 8: for that. It's about the equivalent of a parking ticket.
• 35:55
  Speaker 8: You ever heard of somebody getting rid of a body
• 35:58
  Speaker 8: to avoid a parking ticket?
• 36:01
  Speaker 4: Vertaz himself said Zion told him specifically she had a
• 36:07
  Speaker 4: history of seizures. The question was asked, were you concerned
• 36:12
  Speaker 4: when you saw this? No, I was not concerned because
• 36:15
  Speaker 4: I knew of a history of seizures she told me
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: about and that she was on medication for it. And
• 36:22
  Speaker 4: his understanding is that if she did not take the medication,
• 36:26
  Speaker 4: the seizures would be that much worse.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: Sierra Milton and the rest of Zion's family waited as
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: the jury went into deliberations.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: Just so many inconsistencies that, again, hopefully, you know, The
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: end point of this is that they will see those inconsistencies,
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: see through the lies, and see the truth. That he
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: murdered my daughter, and he disposed of her with absolute
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: disregard for her life.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: The jury returned in only 30 minutes.
• 37:02
  Speaker 9: As to count one.
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: How do you find it?
• 37:05
  Speaker 6: Guilty.
• 37:05
  Speaker 4: As to count two, how do you find it?
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: Guilty.
• 37:11
  Speaker 6: Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your right hand.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Jalen Brazier maintained his innocence of the murder at his
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: sentencing hearing.
• 37:18
  Speaker 7: I know that.
• 37:25
  Speaker 5: The picture's already painted, of course, and as long as
• 37:27
  Speaker 5: he gets it, have it in our.
• 37:29
  Speaker 6: Head, it is what it is.
• 37:30
  Speaker 5: But he said I was not in any way violent.
• 37:34
  Speaker 5: He wasn't hurt at all. He said that I never
• 37:37
  Speaker 5: wanted to apologize, but I never tried to apologize. That's
• 37:40
  Speaker 5: not true.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: Before announcing his decision on the length of term that
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Jalen would serve, Judge Donald Knapp outlined the convict's failure
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: to accept any responsibility for the murder, for his disposal
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: of Zion's body, for lying to police, and for causing
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: so many delays in the investigation through his lies. The
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: father had left his two young children alone in the house.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: He manipulated and lied to family. And ultimately, he acted alone.
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: It was unlikely, according to Judge Knapp, that he would
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: ever be rehabilitated. Jalen Brazier was sentenced to 30 to
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: 90 years in prison for the murder and another 5
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: to 10 years for tampering with evidence. These terms are
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: to be served consecutively.
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: My body was trembling.
• 38:35
  Speaker 4: But man, when it was read.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: And it was just so matter of fact.
• 38:42
  Speaker 4: I'm so happy they saw.
• 38:43
  Speaker 5: She was loved.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: She is loved.
• 38:46
  Speaker 5: She was fought for.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: And this is the result.
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: So I'm happy. I'm happy that in the end, this
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: is justice.
• 38:58
  Speaker 7: And for Jalen, you thought you were smart.
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: You tried to be slick.
• 39:02
  Speaker 4: The people saw you for what you are. And I
• 39:11
  Speaker 4: hope you never get out.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: Zion Foster's body has never been recovered. Over 70 volunteers
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: and law enforcement searched the landfill for nearly six months
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: before finally admitting defeat. As of the publication of this video,
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: Jalen remains at an intake facility in Wayne County, awaiting
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: his placement in a general population prison. Thank you for
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: joining me to take a look at this tragic case.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: A special thank you to Bex in Wonderland, for becoming
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: the latest member of the Member's Lounge. I'm Kevin, this
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: is Just Thought Lounge, and I'll see you in the
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: next one.
• 40:00
  Speaker 11: When the scene plays, tell me who to scream saves.
• 40:02
  Speaker 11: I can hear the cries repeat. Gotta take my time,
• 40:04
  Speaker 11: cause these crimes get deep. But these stories can't hide,
• 40:07
  Speaker 11: let me find my seat.
• 40:08
  Speaker 10: Kevin, go ahead and settle in.
• 40:09
  Speaker 11: Gotta be selective, doing all the research. Keeping it objective,
• 40:13
  Speaker 11: always been effective. Can say he got a knack, pick
• 40:15
  Speaker 11: it a litter. You see how Newton got his back. Yeah,
• 40:18
  Speaker 11: the content that you need. This could be a new sign.
• 40:20
  Speaker 11: We talk in the comments. They jot in a few lines.
• 40:22
  Speaker 7: Tune in and hit like.
• 40:23
  Speaker 6: Love that. It's too kind.