MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – A jury was selected Monday, May 6, in the trial for Jaylin Brazier, the man charged with second-degree murder in the disappearance of his teenage cousin.
The jury consists of eight women and six men.
“It’s a long time coming. I’m just glad that we’re finally at this place,” said Foster’s mother, Cierra Milton. “I need justice to be served. It’s overwhelming at this point. It’s been difficult.”
Zion Foster disappeared on Jan. 4, 2022. Her family reported her missing and said they were concerned the 17-year-old was being held against her will. Brazier was the last person to see her alive after picking her up from her Eastpointe home. There were multiple searches across the area for Foster and police traced her phone to Brazier’s home.
Within three weeks of her disappearance, Brazier was arrested and charged with lying to authorities during the investigation. He was sentenced to prison in 2023 after accepting a plea deal.
Foster’s mother said Brazier even helped in the search for Foster while knowing what had happened to her daughter.
He told police he was smoking marijuana with Zion when she suddenly died. He originally denied seeing his cousin at all, only to admit weeks later that he had thrown her body in a dumpster, but insists he was not responsible for her death. Brazier said he panicked when he found her dead.
Brazier allowed Foster’s family to spend weeks searching for her before revealing that he had thrown her body in a dumpster, he admitted in court in 2022.
Read: Prosecutors question whether Eastpointe teen was really dead when cousin threw her in dumpster
“Yes, I lied, but I was not in the right state of mind,” Brazier said during his sentencing in 2022. “There was no way for me to prepare for a situation like that. I was scared.”
He was released after less than 10 months behind bars after being sentenced to 23 months to 4 years in prison. Foster’s mother was not told that his sentence was changed until he was released.
The Michigan Department of Corrections put Brazier in a special alternative incarceration program -- a boot camp -- and his sentence was drastically cut.
Prosecutors said he should have called 911 or friends or family and are questioning if she was actually dead when she was stashed in a dumpster.
He will now stand trial on charges of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
There have been numerous searches for her remains, but they’ve never been found. Police said Foster’s body could be buried hundreds of feet below the surface of the Pine Tree Acres landfill. A search for her remains was called off in October 2022.
Background: ‘I’m numb’: Mother speaks out after Detroit police halt search for Zion Foster’s remains in landfill
Brazier’s attorney, Brian Brown, insisted his client is innocent.
Zion’s family said they’ve been mourning her loss for years and that the pain is constant.
“I relive this every day,” Milton said. “I relive this every night. There is hardly a night where I get sleep.”
Brazier’s trial will begin Tuesday, May 7, at 9:30 a.m.