(WWJ) – Jaylin Brazier, the cousin of missing Eastpointe teen Zion Foster, has been released from prison, according to multiple reports.
Last March Brazier, 23, was sentenced to 23 months to four years in prison on charges of lying to police during the investigation. Brazier admitted to throwing Foster's body in a dumpster after initially telling police he didn't know what happened.
His sentence was cut short when he was released on Tuesday, just under 10 months after he was sentenced, according to a story from WDIV in Detroit.
Authorities say the 17-year-old Foster was with Brazier when she was last seen on Jan. 4, 2022. Brazier told officials he and the teen were smoking marijuana when she stopped breathing and he "acted off of fear" and threw her body in a dumpster.
Detroit police officials spent several months searching a Macomb County landfill in hopes of finding the teen's body, but the search came to an end in October without finding her.
The Michigan Department of Corrections placed Brazier in a Special Alternative Incarceration (SAI) program, similar to a boot camp. After completing the 90-day program, he was granted release, according to a report from Fox 2.
The SAI program -- located at the Cooper Street Correctional Facility in Jackson -- "focuses on changing negative behavior into socially acceptable behavior" and includes a military discipline portion of the program, designed to "break down streetwise attitudes, so staff can teach positive values and attitudes," according to the MDOC website.
Cierra Milton, Foster's mother, told WWJ's Jon Hewett she found out about Brazier's release a few days ahead of time and she was "in disbelief."
"It makes no sense. I do not understand," she said, noting no one reached out to her to let her know that Brazier had entered the SAI program.
"I think that it's a disgrace to the system. I think it's a disgrace to the courts, it's a disgrace even to the police officers who have worked hard, the attorneys that have worked hard to get this far," Milton said.
Detroit Police Chief James White on Tuesday told reporters the investigation is still ongoing and said "investigators have a lot of work to do with the prosecutor on that case."
"Members of this department volunteered their entire summer to dig at a literal dump site and look for her," White said. "That case is still wide open. We think we've got a strong suspect for that case. There's a lot of work to be done and we're gonna continue to do that work."
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