Man convicted of murder in Detroit teen's death despite body still missing in landfill

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit man who dropped a teenager’s body into a dumpster after dark but insisted he wasn’t responsible for her death was convicted of second-degree murder Thursday, a case that gripped the region in 2022 when police spent months combing a vast landfill for her remains.

Zion Foster’s body was never found during an extraordinary summer search through tons of trash. But prosecutors built a circumstantial case against her cousin, Jaylin Brazier, based on his own statements, lies to police, suspicious internet searches and other missteps.

The jury needed less than an hour to return a verdict.

“He got rid of her body because he murdered her,” assistant prosecutor Ryan Elsey said during his closing argument. “That is why people get rid of bodies. Period. Full stop.”

Foster, who lived in Eastpointe, was a 17-year-old high school senior in January 2022 when she disappeared. Brazier said he hadn’t seen her in months but later acknowledged that he had picked her up at night and brought her to his home while his girlfriend was at work.