(WXYZ) — A judge sentenced Jaylin Brazier to 38-90 years in prison for the murder of Zion Foster on Monday morning.
VIDEO: Jaylin Brazier sentenced for murder of Zion Foster
Brazier was also sentenced to 5-10 years for tampering with evidence, to be served consecutively. The judge gave Brazier nearly one year credit for time served.
VIDEO: Watch Zion's mother deliver impact statement during hearing:
"He stole from me and he stole from my babies," Ciera Milton, Zion's mother, said of Brazier in her impact statement. "And he stole from the world what would have been and what should have been a great human being. All she had ever done was try to make people happy."
Before Judge Donald Knapp delivered his sentence, Brazier addressed the court.
He said, "I was reckless. I was inconsiderate and this is the outcome of it."
Brazier also asked the judge for leniency.
“I don’t feel like what defines a person is the mistakes we’ve made in our past because we all make them. Some bigger than others, but it’s really the lessons we take into our future. And I just ask that you give me that fair opportunity to get back to that future," he said.
7 News Detroit spoke with Milton after hearing.
Milton said of Brazier, "He's only remorseful about losing the way his life was. That is it."
Milton said of the sentence, "This was... I wanna say maybe slightly rejuvenating for me to know that he's not just going to be free. Because that was a fear. It was a fear in the sense that what if justice wasn't served?"
She said her children, Zion's five surviving siblings "were relieved."
"Now it's just the healing that we have to go through," she explained. "It is extremely difficult. It is something that we will be working towards for years to come."
Jaylin Brazier was convicted of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in May.
RELATED VIDEO: Jury convicts Jaylin Brazier of killing Zion Foster, tampering with evidence
Police say on January 4, 2022, Zion Foster left her home in Eastpointe and never returned.
According to police, Brazier confessed to putting Zion's body in a dumpster after she stopped breathing while the two were getting high.
The 17-year-old's body has never been found.
