Trans Suspect in Bloody Stabbing Murder Admitted Victim Was What He 'Would Want to Look Like': Official Report
A Phoenix police report says Zion Teasley, 25, a man convicted in the stabbing death of hiker Lauren Heike, told investigators the victim was “what I would want to look like.” Journal entries in the same police file describe a conflict between that transgender desire and his Christian faith.
Heike, 29, was killed on April 28, 2023, on the Reach 11 trail in north Phoenix. A neighbor called police the next day upon discovering the body. She had been stabbed more than a dozen times. Later accounts of the case put the number of wounds at 15.
Police documents say she was likely chased over a barbed-wire fence. Evidence and belongings ran along a path through the fence to where her body was found.
DNA on a shoe at the scene belonging to Heike matched Teasley in a criminal database, local ABC News affiliate KNXV-TV reported in a story on the nearly 400-page report. Cellphone location data also tied him to the scene.
Teasley was already on probation for a 2021 conviction of armed robbery and other related offenses. Officers arrested him days after the killing, before a planned trip to a family funeral out of state, after his probation officer told them plane tickets had been bought.
The report says police found no communication between Heike and Teasley before her death. Investigators told ABC15 they believed the attack was random. A boyfriend, Carlos Anderson, was interviewed early, agreed to a polygraph, and was ruled out after his employer confirmed he was at work.
What the file does contain is Teasley’s own writing on sex and identity. One entry quoted by ABC15 reads, “I have been battling with my gender identity and sexuality. I am Christian, so this isn’t allowed. I want to live a life of serving God, but how can I with these and other sins in the way. 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.”
Police noted another screenshot that read, “when I see a beautiful woman and I’m a man.” Investigators treated that line as a possible sign of depression, ABC15 reported.
In the interview, Teasley said he knew Heike from the news. Shown her image, he said, “That’s what I would want to look like,” according to the report. Officers also found photos from her social media on his phone, accessed days after the killing, and images of Teasley in an outfit they described as similar to what she was wearing. Those images appeared to have been accessed or modified the day he was arrested.
A few hours after her death, a computer in his home was used to visit news sites and a WikiHow page on avoiding being “jumped,” the report said. Shown surveillance of the person police had released as the suspect, he said, “That’s me. I think is it? I don’t know.” Asked if he planned the murder, he answered, “I’m telling you, if I was gonna do something like that, it definitely wouldn’t be premeditated.” Officers noted scratches on him.
The same report describes a large volume of messages between Teasley and a Phoenix patrol officer, continuing until the day of the arrest. An extraction of the officer’s phone showed searches the next day for “Lauren Heike,” “Zion,” and “Teasley.” The officer told investigators he stopped texting because of the arrest, talked about the case with squad mates, and did not tell a supervisor about the relationship. Phoenix police later told ABC15 the officer was investigated and suspended for not disclosing it.
Heike’s parents were in court when the defense asked to push the trial from October 2025 to January 2027. The judge granted the delay. Teasley’s new attorney referred to the client as “her” while raising a health concern. Teasley had pleaded not guilty and faced two other felony cases. Attorneys declined to speak with KNXV-TV after the hearing.
On Oct. 2, 2026, Teasley pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, the New York Post reported. The agreement took the death penalty off the table. Sentencing will take place on December 2026. The Post described him as a former Marine recruit who left before completing boot camp and was transitioning to live as a woman.
BREAKING UPDATE: Zion Teasley, who identifies as transgender, has pleaded GUILTY to m*rdering Lauren Heike.
Teasley said that he wanted to “look like Lauren” and was “battling with my gender identity and sexuality.”
At the time of the m*rder, he was also on probation for a previous armed robbery and other crimes.
Teasley’s plea deal avoids the death sentence. He still potentially faces life in prison.
Trans terrorism is real
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 6, 2026
The Post and the Dallas Express both tied the plea back to the KNXV-TV report: Teasley’s desire to “look like” his female victim, and the journal passage about faith and “gender identity.” Neither outlet published a new statement from Teasley at the plea.
TRANS TERROR: Zion Teasley, a biological male who wrote about his struggles with his “gender identity”, admitted murdering Phoenix hiker Lauren Heike.
Afterwards he told police his reason for killing her as because “That’s what I would want to look like”.
https://t.co/Mg6LQ4iFpa
— The Dallas Express News (@DallasExpress) October 6, 2026
The criminal outcome is a guilty plea to first-degree murder in a killing police called random. The written record police collected before that plea is the journal, the searches, the clothing photos, and the interview answer about Heike’s appearance. Those items are in the report KNXV-TV reviewed. They are not a finding on motive from the court.
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