(WWJ) – Jaylin Brazier, the cousin of missing Eastpointe teen Zion Foster, has been sentenced to up to four years in prison for charges stemming from her disappearance back in January.
The 17-year-old Foster was last seen on Jan. 4 with her 23-year-old cousin, according to authorities.
While authorities have not found Foster’s body, Brazier was charged with lying to police during the investigation.
Brazier had initially told police he did not know anything about her disappearance, but later apparently admitted to the teen’s mother, Ciera Milton, that he had put Foster’s body in a dumpster.
Brazier told the court he and his cousin had been smoking marijuana and he believed she had died and then panicked. That’s when he reportedly decided to put her body in the trunk of a car and then throw it away in a dumpster.
Milton, during emotional testimony at Brazier’s sentencing on Wednesday, said she will never get closure, and will never know exactly what happened to her daughter.
“What if you were so high that she was alive and you just threw her in the dumpster in the cold, without a coat” Milton said in an impact statement. “And if that’s the case, then that means that my baby was crushed in the process of how trash is taken and picked up and placed in a landfill, where she will never be found.”
Milton said Brazier could have called 911 or family members to seek help.
“But it seems like more than just a panic,” she said. “It seems like you did something or you gave something.”
Brazier maintained Wednesday that he doesn't know what happened to cause Foster's death. He said he "reacted stupidly off of fear," according to a report from WDIV.
Foster was last seen with Brazier at his home in Detroit and last month Detroit police officials resubmitted a warrant package to the Wayne County Prosecutor's office for multiple charges, but he has not been charged at this time.
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