PHOENIX — The person accused of murdering 29-year-old Lauren Heike back in April 2023 has changed their plea.
According to the court, Friday afternoon Zion Teasley pled guilty as charged.
The judge, in court, said the plea deal would mean Teasley would be sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder.
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It was also said in court that according to the agreement, prosecutors would dismiss their notice to seek the death penalty.
The judge also said that the charges in an assault and burglary case, filed after Teasley's arrest for Heike's murder, would also be dismissed under the terms of the agreement.
Sentencing is set for December 4.
Read a statement from the Heike family below:
After 3½ incredibly long and painful years, our family has accepted a plea agreement in Lauren’s case. This means we will not have to endure a trial or sit in a courtroom and hear every painful detail of the crime that took Lauren from us. There is a tremendous sense of relief in knowing that we will be spared that additional trauma.
We fully supported the State’s efforts to seek the death penalty, but we are in agreement with the plea offer made by the defendant. He offered to plead guilty to first-degree murder and accept a natural life sentence.
While no sentence will ever bring Lauren back, we are relieved knowing that he will never be released. He will never again have the opportunity to harm another person or cause another family to experience the unimaginable grief and trauma that ours has endured.
We miss Lauren more than words can express. She should be here, living the life she loved and continuing to build the future she had dreamed for herself. Nothing can restore the dreams she had for herself or the future we were dreaming for her. We will forever grieve all that was taken from Lauren and from those who loved her.
As this chapter comes to an end, we hope to finally begin healing and to focus less on how Lauren’s life ended and more on the beautiful life she lived and the love and memories she left with all of us.
HEIKE'S MURDER
A neighbor first called police after finding Heike stabbed more than a dozen times off a popular north Phoenix hiking trail called Reach 11.
It was DNA from Heike's shoe, that was found at the scene, which ultimately pointed police to suspect Zion Teasley. Teasley came up as a match in a criminal database after already serving time behind bars.
Tealsey was arrested just days after Heike’s death and charged with murder.
In May 2025, a nearly 400-page police report detailed the calls Heike's loved ones made to the police. It also detailed, the investigation into Teasley
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