Mom kills and buries 9-year-old son, then moves from Michigan to Georgia, officials say
A foot sticking out of a shallow grave behind a Michigan home in January has now been determined to be of a 9-year-old boy killed by his mother, authorities say.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced homicide charges Feb. 5 against the child’s mother, 41-year-old Brandee Katrice Pierce, who she said killed Zemar King III in October.
Pierce is accused of moving to Georgia with her other son, a 3-year-old, after killing Zemar, Worthy said in the press conference streamed by WDIV.
A construction crew preparing the unoccupied Detroit home for new residents on Jan. 6 discovered a foot and shin sticking out of a “shallow grave,” according to McClatchy News reporting.
Authorities believed the person to be “small in nature,” but investigators did not have a proper identification at the time.
An investigation led authorities to Pierce, who Worthy said had purchased a shovel to bury her son in the back yard of her home.
“She bound him by tying his hands and feet together and dug a hole in the back yard of the house on Woodingham (Drive) where she had been living for a short time,” the prosecutor said. “She then put him in this hole and covered him with dirt.”
Zemar’s cause of death was listed as smothering and neck compression, authorities said. A motive for the boy’s killing is unclear.
Zemar’s father was unaware his son was killed until recently, according to the prosecutor.
Pierce moved with her 3-year-old son to Cobb County, Georgia, a 700-mile drive from Detroit, according to Worthy. Authorities took Pierce into custody in Georgia, and she is awaiting extradition to Michigan.
She was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, tampering with evidence and concealing the death of an individual, Worthy said.
“These charges and allegations are quite serious, they are deadly, they are shocking,” the prosecutor said.
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 2:07 PM with the headline "Mom kills and buries 9-year-old son, then moves from Michigan to Georgia, officials say."