Detroit Mom Smothers 9-Year-Old Son, Buries Body In Shallow Grave Behind Home: Police

DETROIT — A mother is facing murder charges after prosecutors said she killed her 9-year-old son and then buried him in a shallow grave behind a Detroit home.

Last month, police found the body of 9-year-old Zemar King in a shallow grave in the backyard of a home in the 19700 block of Woodingham Drive in Detroit, according to prosecutors.

Brandee Katrice Pierce, 41, was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, first-degree child abuse, tampering with evidence, and interfering with a person's death.

If convicted, she faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the premeditated murder charge and the felony murder charge. She also faces up to life in prison for the child abuse charge and up to five years in prison for interfering with someone's death.

On Jan. 6, prosecutors said the landlord of the home was working in the backyard to prepare the property for a new tenant when he discovered the boy's body in a shallow grave.

The landlord called police and officers found a human foot sticking out of the frozen ground, according to prosecutors.

An autopsy determined the body was 9-year-old Zemar King, who had died from smothering and neck compression, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Pierce killed her son sometime in October 2024. She then bought a shovel, dug the grave in their home's backyard, placed his body in it and then buried it, according to prosecutors.

Shortly after killing and burying her son, Pierce left the Detroit home where she was living and moved to Cobb County, Georgia with her 3-year-old son, who is now in Georgia's foster care system, according to prosecutors.

Pierce was arrested in connection with the killing in Georgia, and prosecutors have requested her to be extradited back to Michigan.

As of Wednesday afternoon, her next date was not scheduled, since she has to be moved back to Michigan.

Prosecutors did not discuss a motive in the killing Wednesday.

"I have stood here many times and talked about how horrific, tragic, and shocking certain cases are," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Wednesday. "And each time I think there couldn't be a worse case in the future, knowing all the while there's always something possibly worse on the horizon. Well, that day has come, again."