A woman, aged 41, is currently detained and awaiting her extradition to Michigan on charges of murdering her 9-year-old son and burying him in a shallow grave. She is also accused of absconding from the state with her other child. The investigation was launched on January 6 when Detroit police were informed about a shallow grave in a backyard of a residence on the 19700 block of Woodingham. The property owner had stumbled upon the chilling find.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy revealed to the press that upon reaching the scene, the police were directed to the grave where a human foot was visible above the ground. The child’s hands and feet were also tied, she added. The victim was identified as 9-year-old Zamar King III. Further probing led detectives to believe that the boy’s mother, Brandee Katrice Pierce, was accountable for his death on October 24.
The Michigan medical examiner determined the cause of death as smothering and compression to the neck. Approximately two weeks after the alleged murder, Pierce departed Michigan and moved to Georgia. She was subsequently arrested on unrelated charges on December 20.
The Detroit Free Press obtained a police report from Pierce’s December arrest. The report indicated that a worried citizen in Brookhaven, a suburb of Atlanta, had informed the police after noticing a 3-year-old boy alone in a car. Responding officers found the boy, who was cold but unharmed. The backseat of the car contained human feces and a deflated air mattress. Pierce confessed to living in the car with the boy and earning money by donating plasma. She was subsequently arrested for second-degree child cruelty, and the boy was placed in foster care.
Pierce was released on bail, but was later apprehended by Georgia authorities in connection with the murder case on January 10, according to Detroit police. She now faces charges of first-degree murder, felony murder, first-degree child abuse, tampering with evidence, and concealing the death of an individual. She is currently being held at the Cobb County Jail, awaiting extradition to Michigan.
Prosecutor Worthy refrained from speculating on a potential motive for the alleged crimes. She expressed her shock at the case, stating, “I have been a prosecutor for a long time, and I often say that I have seen it all. The horrors of this child abuse case defy that. The alleged actions of the defendant are among the most callous I have seen and hope never to see again.”