A 24-year-old conflicted about his gender identification viciously murdered a younger lady after he flew right into a jealous rage due to her magnificence, cops mentioned.
Zion Teasley, who wrote about his perception he was transgender in his diary within the days main as much as the slaying, stabbed 29-year-old Lauren Heike 15 instances as she hiked on an Arizona path in April 2023, in response to police.
“I’ve been battling with my gender identification and sexuality,” Teasley is claimed to have written in a journal entry, in response to ABC15.
“I’m Christian, so this isn’t allowed. I need to dwell a lifetime of serving god, however how can I with these and different sins in the best way. I [know] I’m forgiven for my sins. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless quite a lot of stress and it’s exhausting to keep up Christian mindset 24/7,” the accused killer reportedly wrote.
Cops revealed Teasley mentioned of Heike earlier than his arrest, “That’s what I might need to appear like.”
Investigators additionally mentioned they discovered a photograph of Teasley carrying an outfit just like the one Heike was carrying when she was killed.
Teasley, whose attorneys have referred to their shopper as “her” within the courtroom, has a rap sheet courting again to 2020, and accomplished a three-year jail sentence for armed theft simply 5 months earlier than the alleged slaying.
