Zion Foster murder case: Alleged suicide note found in Jaylin Brazier's home

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The murder trial of Jaylin Brazier resumed Wednesday morning in Wayne County as he's charged with killing his cousin, Zion Foster, in 2022 and then dumping her body.

Five witnesses, including Foster's mother, were called on Tuesday, the first day of testimony in the trial. Read a recap of Tuesday here.

Brazier's trial started with jury selection on Monday and opening statements started on Tuesday. You can watch our gavel-to-gavel coverage in the player above, on FOX2Detroit.com, and FOX 2's YouTube channel.

Brazier previously told police that Foster died while he was with her and he threw her body in a dumpster. He says he did not kill her, though.

He was originally charged and convicted of lying to police. While serving a sentence for that crime, he was charged with murder. Foster's body has never been found.

3:10 p.m. - Detroit Police Sgt. Shannon Jones

After a brief court break, Detroit Police Sgt. Shannon Jones was called to the stand to testify. Jones handles missing persons cases in the department.

Jones testified she was involved in the investigation around January 17 or 18 in 2022. She said there were different news stories that went out and prompted her department's involvement.

She testified that Brazier had his Miranda Rights read to him prior to his interview with Detroit Police on Jan. 19, 2022.

During that interview, everyone was wearing a mask due to Covid, making it difficult to hear Brazier and the police in the room with him.

Brazier admitted to police in this interview that Foster died when they were smoking weed together and that he put her body in a trash can in Highland Park.

"We smoked. All we had was weed – normal marijuana. So I freaked out and I said this looks terrible. It looks very bad. I didn't know what to do. So I took her, I put her into my trunk, I took her to Highland Park and put her inside of a trashcan and then I left," Brazier told police. 

He then showed police a map of where he dumped her body – but showed a location across the street from where her body was actually dumped.

Wednesday's proceedings ended with the prosecution playing the interview with Detroit Police – but the full tape wasn't finished. the rest of the interview will be played Thursday morning.

2:00 p.m. - David Yount - MSP K9 unit testifies

The sixth witness to testify on Wednesday was David Yount from the Michigan State Police K9 unit.

Yount has worked on the K9 unit since 2000 and discussed the training process for police dogs before diving in to discuss what his role in the case was.

The dog Yount trained and worked with, Jamison, is a cadaver dog within the MSP K9 unit. Yount and Jamison arrived at Brazier's home on Greenfield in January 2022. He said the dog did not indicate anything about Foster or her remains being in the home.

Yount and Jamison then searched Brazier's car at the Eastpointe Police Department. In the trunk of the car, Jamison gave an indication of human remains - but nothing was physically present.

During cross-examination, Brian Brown attempted to draw in question the credibility of a cadaver dog and whether there was a universal standard for training police K9. Yount confirmed there wasn't a universal standard but that there were standards that are utilized to confirm the dog is appropriately identifying remains.

Yount said that, through training and trials, he was "very sure" that Jamison was trained appropriately and his indications are accurate.

1:44 p.m. - Eli Bowers - FBI special agent testifies

The next witness to testify was Eli Bowers from the FBI. Bowers was asked about his experience searching scenes with alternative light sources (ALS) – which helps find blood and other evidence that is not visible with the naked eye.

Once a substance is identified with the light, they're swabbed with luminol to confirm the presence of blood. 

He said there was no evidence with ALS that prompted the need to swap for luminol in the living room – the only room he was asked to search in the home.

Under cross-examination, he said the ALS and luminol are both reliable and have been used for years in police investigations.

1:00 p.m. - Jayson Chambers - FBI special agent called to testify

After an hour lunch break, the prosecution called FBI special agent Jayson Chambers, who served a search warrant at Brazier's Detroit home on Jan. 17, 2022.

The search was trying to find anything related to the disappearance of Foster – including documents, DNA, and more. 

Chambers walked through photos of evidence from inside Brazier's home during the search. 

Included was a photo from the dining room table. In that photo was the alleged suicide note that police had referenced during testimony earlier on Wednesday. It was written on a cardboard box:

"I did nothing and in death I stick to that regardless of the lies being made against me. To my family Katrina, mom/dad and my siblings, I love you all more than anything in this world and I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to handle this. to my kids, Ava, Deshaun, Isaiah, daddy will always be with you and always love you." 

On a white envelope next to it was this: 

"And it's my final wish to be cremated."

The alleged note was not signed.

Other photos detailed child toys and other items throughout the home - including a metal table with broken glass on the ground.

Chambers said, despite there being no blood found in the home, the search warrant was to look for anything related to the case and that not all crime scenes will be bloody.

Chambers also said that people can reorganize and clean scenes to hid evidence of a violent crime.

He was then questioned about the federal regulation of marijuana, which Foster and Brazier had smoked that night. Brazier's attorney has argued that his client feared being prosecuted for using marijuana. Chambers said he wasn't aware of anyone being federally prosecuted for marijuana use.

Under cross-examination, Chambers confirmed they did not conduct DNA swaps or fingerprint lifts. 

"The reason we didn't do any of those use any of those techniques was it was not in dispute whether the people in question have ever been to that house. So finding a fingerprint or even a DNA sample of one of the people in question at that house wouldn't mean something, would or wouldn't mean anything one way or the other, because it had been well known that these people had been there," Chambers said.

He also testified there was not evidence that the home had been cleaned to hide evidence.

Under redirect, Chambers said the removal of a dead body would be evidence of covering up a crime.

11:48 a.m. - Brian Showers testifies

The third witness of the day was Eastpointe Detective Brian Showers, who testified about his role in the investigation. He testified he was in Pontiac on Jan. 17, 2022, watching Brazier's vehicle. The car had been parked and police were looking for the car in an attempt to find Brazier.

After about 4 hours of waiting, Brazier left a home nearby and got into the car. Showers said police stopped him and detained him. The car was towed as part of the investigation to the Eastpointe Police lot - where it was searched two days later. 

On Brazier, they found a cell phone - which they seized as part of evidence of the case.

The defense did not cross-examine Showers.

10:58 a.m. - Eastpointe Detective Ian Reinhold on the stand

The second witness to testify on Wednesday is Eastpointe Police Detective Ian Reinhold, who has been on the job for almost 16 years.

He testified that he handled the missing persons case of Foster. He also talked with Brazier on Jan. 7 about what he know about Foster's location – but he said he hadn't seen her in months.

"He said that he hadn't seen her in months and that she had been missing before. He said he found out that she had used his house as an excuse when she was missing before," Reinhold said.

During his testimony, he said Brazier said he would come into the police station to talk about Foster's location but he never showed up. Reinhold said he called Brazier multiple times in the following days.

Reinhold also investigated video from Foster's neighbor's doorbell camera in Eastpointe. The video showed a car pulled into the home's driveway at 10:42 p.m.

He also obtained footage of a doorbell camera from across the street from Brazier's home in Greenfield, recorded at 11:14 p.m. – which appears to show the same the car that picked up Foster, Reinhold testified.

Two people then got out of the car and went inside the home. 

The prosecutor played multiple clips throughout the night, showing the car hadn't moved until 1:41 a.m. – when the car pulled out of the driveway and was then backed into place.

At 1:50, the car pulled out of the driveway. Over the next 25 minutes, several cars passed by until 2:15 a.m. when the white car pulled back into the driveway. The next movement was 30 minutes later when the trunk of the car was opened and then closed – and then the car was backed out of the driveway.

Reinhold also served multiple search warrants for home and cell phones for Foster and Brazier. The warrants included Brazier's car. 

During the search, Reinhold said he saw a cracked yellow iPhone, an apparent suicide note, and a metal table with broken glass. He also searched Brazier's phone – which did not have Foster's number stored and no data prior to January 6, 2022.

Under cross-examination, Brian Brown asked if he did any independent work to confirm the timestamps or other accuracy on any of the doorbell cameras. Reinhold confirmed he did not. 

Reinhold also confirmed he got a statement from Brazier after Foster's disappearance. He also said that Foster's mom, Ciera Milton, had shown odd behavior after her daughter was missing and said he believed she could have done more to search for her daughter.

9:35 a.m. - FBI special agent George Rienerth testifies

With the jury seated and Brazier back in court, the prosecution continued its case – calling FBI special agent George Rienerth to testify.

Rienerth did a cellular analysis on Brazier's phone after Foster died – looking at cell phone tower pinging and Google map locations.

During his testimony, described how cell phone data works and how he was able to determine the location of Brazier's phone. The locations they keyed in on were ultimately determined to be his home on Greenfield and a parking lot in Highland Park – 26 Beresford.

Rienerth testified that the Highland Park address was a large open lot with multiple dumpsters. He said he drove by Wednesday morning and confirmed it was in the same condition as it was in January 2022.

Additionally, Rienerth said Brazier's phone also traveled to a home in Eastpointe - which is where Foster lived.

He also tracked Foster's phone, which went off the cell phone network at 1:15 a.m. on January 5, 2022. Reinerth said turning off the phone, airplane mode, a dead battery, or a broken and damaged phone could all take it off a cell phone network.

Brazier's phone left his home at 1:44 a.m. that day and went to the Highland Park address. It was near the lot for 6 minutes - starting at 2 a.m.

After being there for six minutes, data showed the phone taking the same route back to the home on Greenfield, where it arrived at 2:29 a.m. 

Rienerth said the next day, at 1:31 p.m., the phone left the Greenfield home and went back to the parking lot, arriving at 2 p.m. Then it turned around and went back to an area on the opposite side of the Lodge Freeway from Brazier's home, arriving at 2:11 p.m.

Rienerth also testified about search history from Brazier's phone - which happened at the same location where he arrived that afternoon.

The two questions entered into Google included: ‘are trash trucks also compactors' and ‘what is the force of a garbage truck compactor’.

Under cross-examination, attorney Brian Brown questioned the accuracy of the data provided by the cell phone company. Rienerth said the data is accurate, as provided, and things like weather or other obstructions would not interfere with the pinging locations. However, if something physically is between the phone and the tower, it could affect the time and precise location of the phone.

What happened to Zion Foster?

Foster was last seen by her mom, Ciera Milton, on Jan. 4, 2022.

Milton said Foster was picked up by her cousin at his home in Detroit to smoke marijuana. Milton said Foster texted her later saying she was coming home, but never did. When she started searching and couldn't find her, she went to Eastpointe Police and then Detroit Police, who eventually went to Brazier's home in Detroit and talked to him. 

Foster's phone last pinged in Detroit – which is what prompted Detroit Police to show up at Brazier's door.

Milton recalls Brazier telling her "he hadn’t seen or been in contact with her 'for three years' which is impossible when you were in my driveway and gave me a hug."

Milton said Brazier showed her surveillance footage, but there were gaps in the recordings. She filled in those gaps from a Ring doorbell camera that showed someone believed to be Brazier picking up Foster at her house in Eastpointe the night of her disappearance and bringing her back to his house.

Then, she said, she and others searched the area around Brazier's home.

"That prompted me to go to Jaylin's house. We searched the neighborhood, we looked through abandoned houses, we looked through dumpsters," she said.

Brazier was arrested a few days after Foster disappeared. He was initially arrested for lying to police during the investigation and ultimately pleaded no contest, as part of a plea deal. 

"I was on panic mode ever since that happened," Brazier said in court in 2022. "Her mother at one point talked to me, and I couldn't bring myself to (tell her) 'Your daughter just died.' What do I do?"

In March 2022, Brazier admitted to lying to Eastpointe Police about the investigation. 

"I can't even explain it, what happened. I can just tell you my honest reaction," Brazier claimed in court in March 2022. "One minute she was cool, she was fine. She laid back for a minute and the next thing I knew she was just dead. I don't know what caused it, I did not cause it."

Detroit Police Department spent several months in 2022 picking through tons of trash at a Macomb County landfill, but Foster's body was never found. The search was ultimately called off in October 2022.

'He threw her in a dumpster'

Brazier's story changed wildly over the first few months of the investigation. He first said that he didn't know where she was before ultimately admitting they had been together and that she had died with him as they were smoking marijuana. He then later said he put her body in a dumpster. 

"He said that my baby just died, and then that he threw her in a dumpster, like she was trash," Foster's mom said.

He did not say that he killed her.

"I reacted stupidly off of fear and panic like I've never felt before in my life," he said in court during his sentencing for the initial charge of lying to police.

Detroit Police then spent the summer of 2022 searching through a Macomb County landfill as that's where it was believed her body ultimately would have been when the dumpster was emptied. After several months of searching, they were unable to find her remains or evidence of her remains.

But a year after the search, in June 2023, Brazier was charged with her murder but maintained his innocence.

Milton said she did not believe Brazier.

"It wasn't too long ago that I saw you and even knowing that my baby had been in contact with him, I kept going to his house. I just wanted him to tell me the truth," said Milton.

In March 2022, he was sentenced to between 23 months to 4 years in prison.

Brazier's release and charges

In January 2023, Brazier was released from custody after completing just 10 months of his sentence. The 23-year-old completed a 90-day Special Incarceration Program - essentially a boot camp program - which granted his release. 

In August 2023, Brazier returned to a Wayne County courtroom for his preliminary hearing, which stretched over two days. 

He sat in court emotionless during the hearing as details emerged about Zion’s bank accounts and text messages — prosecutors say — Brazier shared with his girlfriend.

One of those messages included a link to a Google search that questioned if someone could be charged for murder if a body isn't discovered.

After two days of testimony, Brazier was bound over for trial.