Zion Teasley, a former Marine recruit who had been transitioning to live as a transgender woman, has admitted killing a hiker after reportedly telling police the victim represented “what I would want to look like.”
Teasley, 25, pleaded guilty to the murder of Lauren Heike, a 29-year-old beauty technician, in a deal that removed the possibility of a death sentence.
Rather than face capital punishment, Teasley will serve life in prison for the 2023 killing. Heike was discovered by neighbors near a barbed-wire fence at the end of a Phoenix hiking trail, having suffered 15 stab wounds.
A 400-page police report obtained by ABC 15 last year said Teasley had written in a diary before the attack that he was “battling with my gender identity and sexuality” and felt those struggles conflicted with his Christian beliefs.
“I want to live a life of serving god, but how can I with these and other sins in the way,” Teasley wrote. His attorney referred to him as “she” during court proceedings.
“[I know] I am forgiven for my sins, but it’s still a lot of pressure and it’s hard to maintain a good Christian mindset 24/7,” the diary entry continued.
Teasley also wrote that seeing “beautiful” women left him depressed because he felt trapped in the identity of “a man.”
During an initial police interview, Teasley denied knowing Heike beyond seeing coverage of her death. Investigators said he made the disturbing remark, “That’s what I would want to look like.”
Surveillance video showed Teasley following Heike, a stranger to him, before pursuing her and fatally stabbing her with a pocketknife. He then climbed over a fence and fled the area.
Investigators later found DNA on Heike’s shoes that matched Teasley. At the time of the murder, he was on probation after serving a year in prison for armed robbery and other offenses.
Police arrested Teasley several days later at his home, located roughly one mile from the trail.
Teasley’s former employer told investigators that he had recently been dismissed for acting “aggressively” toward female co-workers. The employer also reported that clothing matching what the killer wore had been stolen.
Heike’s relatives said they supported the plea agreement because it spared them the emotional strain of a murder trial.
“After 3½ incredibly long and painful years, our family supports the State’s decision to enter into a plea agreement in Lauren’s case. This means we will not have to endure a trial or sit in a courtroom and hear every painful detail of the crime that took Lauren from us,” the family told ABC 15.
“While no sentence will ever bring Lauren back, we are relieved knowing that he will never be released,” the family said. “He will never again have the opportunity to harm another person or cause another family to experience the unimaginable grief and trauma that ours has endured.”
Teasley joined U.S. Marine Corps recruit training in March 2019 but left about three months later, before completing boot camp. The military did not provide further information about his service, citing privacy rules.
