The suspect in the April 2023 stabbing death of Lauren Heike in Phoenix pleaded guilty in court to killing the 29-year-old, whose body was found on a hiking trail.
Zion William Teasley, 25, of Scottsdale, pleaded guilty Oct. 2 to first-degree murder in Heike's death, according to court records.
Heike was hiking April 28, 2023, on a desert trail near East Libby Street and North 65th Place before being killed, Phoenix police said. Heike was found by police just before 11 a.m. April 29, 2023, in a desert area near a neighborhood in the vicinity of 64th Street and Mayo Boulevard. A resident phoned 911 about discovering an injured woman, likely lifeless woman behind her home. She was identified by police two days later.
On Oct. 2, prosecutors dismissed
a pair of January 2020 felony charges, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and first-degree burglary, according to court records. Also on Oct. 2, Teasley pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor in a case from March 2019, court records show.
Early DNA, people who knew him, tied suspect to killing, police say
An autopsy found Heike suffered 15 stab wounds to her upper body, according to charging documents. Evidence and Heike's belongings were found along a path running through a barbed wire fence to where her body was discovered, according to court documents. Heike had defensive wounds and small abrasions likely from her running through a barbed wire fence, court documents said.
Heike was seen on surveillance video walking on the trail the morning of April 28, with a man walking 36 seconds behind her, according to court documents. Heike goes out of camera view in the direction of where she was found, followed shortly after by the man, seen sprinting before obstruction by vegetation. About a minute later, the suspect is seen running in the opposite direction before trying to cross the barbed wire fence and eventually leaving camera view, court documents added.
A shoe discarded by Heike near the barbed wire fence was found with DNA that preliminarily matched Teasley, according to charging documents. Police then pinged Teasley's cellphone and found it had been in the area where Heike was killed, according to court documents. The phone's movements matched the directions the person on camera took.
Others who knew him told police that he carried a pocketknife whose size was consistent with the wounds found on Heike. Court documents also state that Teasley’s probation officer told police the headphones worn by the suspect in photographs appeared to be the same ones Teasley wore to a meeting five days after Heike’s killing.
Killer had a history of violence, was out on probation
Teasley was taken into custody the evening of May 4, 2023, at the Scottsdale apartments where he resided, according to police. His apartments were near the area where Heike's remains were found, prosecutors said during his first appearance in court in early May 2023.
No motive was offered by Teasley for the killing, police said shortly after his arrest. He told police the man in the surveillance video was him, then said he was unsure based on provided photographs, according to court documents.
Convicted in 2021 of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, robbery and disorderly conduct, Teasley was released on probation the following year, according to court records. He had been fired from his job for aggression toward female employees and was suspected of stealing, according to court documents.
Teasley's sentencing on the murder and sex crime is slated for Dec. 4.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lauren Heike's accused killer pleads guilty to 2023 Phoenix stabbing
