Prosecutors say that a Michigan mother killed her 9-year-old son, and official documents show that the boy had told Child Protective Services that she wanted to kill him.
Brandee Pierce was charged with killing Zemar King after his body was found in a shallow grave by police investigating a report from a neighbor that something like a human leg was sticking out of the ground.
‘It is alleged she purchased a shovel. She bound him by tying his hands and feet together.’
The Wayne’s County prosecutor’s office said King’s cause of death was smothering and neck compression.
Documents obtained by WXYZ-TV show that the boy told CPS officials that his mother beat him with a belt and wanted to kill him just six months before his death.
The shocking report says that CPS had investigated complaints against Pierce four different times. In the first incident from 2015, she reportedly admitted to using marijuana and alcohol in her first trimester, but she claimed that she had done so before deciding to keep her child, which was King.
In 2019, King was four years old when he was found alone in the lobby of an apartment building and told police that he “did not know where he belonged.” Police said that CPS denied the complaint.
In 2021, King was five years old when he was found “alone and crying” in a locked vehicle for more than 90 minutes while the outside temperature reached 78 degrees.
In April 2024, Pierce went to an emergency room reporting that she was suffering from anxiety and depression. She told CPS that “she had a breakdown and felt herself going into a panic attack.” Pierce said she had been evicted from a motel, was completely out of funds, and her car had been repossessed. She said she and her children would be sleeping on the street.
The child told officials that his mother had allegedly beat him with a belt, choked him, and said she wanted to kill him.
Records show that CPS found “no preponderance of evidence of physical neglect” and gave Pierce pamphlets about finding community support.
Police say that she killed the boy six months later in October.
“It is alleged she purchased a shovel. She bound him by tying his hands and feet together,” said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. “She then put him in this hole and covered him with dirt.”
Pierce was arrested in Georgia after allegedly leaving her other child in a locked car with feces and a deflated air mattress, according to police.
WXYZ said the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services had no comment on the story after citing privacy laws.
The victim’s uncle set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for the boy’s burial.
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