Transgender man in transition process blames his gender identity for stabbing hiker 15 times: 'That’s what I would want to look like'

Zion William Teasley, a former Marine recruit who was in the process of gender transition, pleaded guilty last week to the murder of 29-year-old hiker Lauren Heike, whom he stabbed 15 times on a trail in Phoenix, Arizona in 2023.

According to the New York Post, Teasley, 25, pleaded guilty to first-degree premeditated murder as part of a plea deal that spared him the death penalty. Instead, he will serve life in prison for the murder of Heike, whose body was found next to a barbed-wire fence with 15 stab wounds.

Before the crime, Teasley had written in his journal that he was "battling with gender identity and sexuality" and that these issues conflicted with his Christian faith, according to a 400-page police report previously obtained by ABC 15.

The defendant also wrote that he felt depressed when he saw women he considered beautiful because he felt trapped in his male body.

"That’s what I would want to look like"

When initially questioned by police, Teasley denied having seen Heike, except on the news. However, during the interview, he said of the victim: "That’s what I would want to look like."

Surveillance cameras captured Teasley following Heike, a woman he did not know, before chasing her down and killing her with a knife. He then jumped over a fence to flee the scene.

The investigation led officers to Teasley after they found his DNA on Heike's shoes. At the time, the defendant was on probation after serving a year in prison for armed robbery and other crimes.

Teasley was arrested days later at his home, located approximately one mile from the trail where Heike's body was found.