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By Chloe Mayer
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Police searching for the killer of a 29-year-old woman who was hiking in Arizona have a suspect in custody following an arrest that was caught on camera.
Lauren Heike was attacked from behind by an assailant on a trail in northeast Phoenix last Friday, according to police. After her body was discovered at around 10:30 a.m. Saturday in a desert area near Scottsdale Road and Mayo Boulevard, a huge manhunt sought her killer.
On Friday, the Phoenix Police Department said that 22-year-old Zion William Teasley had been arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Footage of the arrest, which occurred Thursday evening, was watched by almost 45,000 people online after it was shared by Telemundo Arizona news producer Christian Villegas on Twitter.
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Phoenix police had previously appealed for information as they sought Heike's killer, and they released surveillance footage showing a suspect running from the scene. He was described as having a thin build, between 5 feet, 8 inches and 6 feet tall, wearing dark clothing and carrying a backpack.
Sergeant Melissa Soliz of the Phoenix police said that the man in that video clip is believed to be the same man who was arrested in Scottsdale on Thursday evening, according to CNN, although she did not name Teasley at that point. His identity was not released until the following day.
Teasley, a convicted felon, appeared at Maricopa County Court on Friday, with prosecutors alleging that in the "premeditated" attack Heike was stabbed repeatedly, according to a report in the Daily Mail. He was linked to the scene by DNA evidence, they said.
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Teasley was released from prison in November after being sentenced to three years for robbery with a deadly weapon in 2020, according to the Daily Mail. He has also been charged with breaching his probation.
It is not known whether Teasley was known to Heike.
Newsweek has reached out to the Phoenix Police Department by email for further information and comment.
Lauren Heike was an esthetician who had recently moved to Phoenix from Washington state. Her mother, Lana Heike, appeared at a police press conference earlier this week to appeal for information and help. She wept as she spoke and said her daughter was "beautiful inside and out."
"She had such a kind heart. Everybody who met her loved her," her mother said. Her father, Jeff Heike, added: "She was my little girl. I'm really going to miss her.... I know someone knows something and they can help us."
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Other fatal stabbing cases in the U.S. have been in the news. Former University of California, Davis, student Carlos Dominguez was charged on Friday with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder after a series of knife attacks in the campus town.
Bryan Kohberger is in prison awaiting trial after being charged with fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students last November. A lawyer who previously represented him said he is "eager to be exonerated."
A 15-year-old boy in South Carolina allegedly stabbed his new adoptive parents in February, killing the woman who had just become his mother.
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