AZ Suspect Zion Teasley Arrested For Murder Of Scottsdale Hiker Lauren Heike

MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ. (THECOUNT) — Zion William Teasley has been identified as the suspect officials arrested in connection to the murder of jogger, Lauren Heike, who was recently found dead on a Scottsdale hiking trail.

Teasley, 22, was taken into custody after being accused in the first-degree murder of 29-year-old Heike. Teasley served time in prison from July 2021 to November 2022 after being charged with robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Heike’s body was found Saturday on a trail near East Mayo Boulevard and North Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale, AZ.

Local news video showed the arrest occurring at an apartment complex where Teasley lives.

Authorities said Heike was “found to have trauma to her body.” The Daily Mail cited sources who told local media outlets she had been stabbed “multiple times,” and DNA reportedly found at the scene helped law enforcement find the suspect, reports Breitbart.

“Police confirmed that the man taken into custody was the same man running in the footage,” the Mail article said.

Meanwhile, neighbor Amber Winter witnessed the arrest and said she was walking her dog when she noticed SWAT vehicles and numerous undercover vehicles arrive.

“They literally blew the door down, went in, screaming ‘get on the ground! Get on the ground!’ They detained the supposed suspect, and brought him out. He sat there for a while, while they went inside and were searching and were interviewing people,” she recalled.

Video footage shows officials checking the man’s pockets before placing him inside a police vehicle:

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Geo quick facts: Maricopa County is located in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated its population was 4,485,414 as of 2019, making it the state’s most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States, containing more than half the population of Arizona – Wikipedia.