COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Detroit police discovered the body of a 9-year-old boy buried in the backyard of a rental home. His mother was arrested days later in Cobb County on drug charges and is being charged with his murder.
Authorities believe that Brandee Pierce, 41, killed her son, Zemar King III, in October of last year.
King’s remains were not found until Jan. 6.
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He was buried behind a garage at a rental home where Pierce lived with him and her other son said to be three years old.
“The cause of death according to the Medical Examiner was smothering and neck compression,” Wayne County, Michigan Prosecutor Kym Worthy said at a news conference. “It is alleged she purchased a shovel, she bound him by tying his hands and feet together and dug a hole in the back of the house on Woodingham where she had been living for a short time.”
Sources tell WXYZ that Pierce moved into the house in early September 2024.
A neighbor who did not want to be identified spoke with a WXYZ reporter and recalled a conversation she had with Pierce in early November.
She said something was wrong. It was one month after police said King was murdered.
“As a woman I’m looking, I’m like, ‘Are you ok?’ She’s like, “Yeah,” and then she would stand there and walk back. Stand there and walk back. So, maybe something was wrong with her? I don’t know. Or maybe that was, she was dealing with the issue of what she did,” the woman said.
Sources tell WXYZ that the landlord went to the home to do some maintenance two days before Thanksgiving and found the home vacant.
Pierce took her three-year-old son with her to Brookhaven, Georgia, where the boy is now in foster care.
Pierce was arrested in Brookhaven and charged with first-degree cruelty to children on Dec. 20.
She was arrested again on Jan. 10 in Cobb County and charged with possession of a controlled substance and theft.
She has been charged in Michigan with first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, first-degree child abuse, tampering with evidence, and concealing the death of an individual.
Pierce will be extradited to Michigan.
“I have been a prosecutor for a long time, and I often say that I have seen it all. The horrors of this child abuse case defy that. The alleged actions of this defendant are among the most callous I have seen and hope never to see again,” Worthy said.
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