Zion Teasley, the man who stabbed Phoenix hiker Lauren Heike 15 times on a trail in 2023, has pleaded guilty to her murder in a deal that takes the death penalty off the table and sends him to prison for life.

Teasley, 25, killed Heike, a 29-year-old beauty technician, after stalking her on a hiking trail near her home.

Neighbors found her body at the foot of a barbed wire fence.

Police said he chased her, killed her with a pocketknife, and jumped the fence to get away.

She did not know him.

DNA on her shoes matched Teasley, who was on probation after serving a year in prison for armed robbery and other offenses. Officers arrested him days later at his home, about a mile from the trail.

Before the killing, Teasley wrote in a diary that he was “battling with my gender identity and sexuality,” and that the conflict clashed with his Christian faith, according to a roughly 400-page police report ABC15 obtained last year.

“I want to live a life of serving god, but how can I with these and other sins in the way,” he wrote. “I know I am forgiven for my sins, but it’s still a lot of pressure, and it’s hard to maintain a good Christian mindset 24/7.”

Police also noted a line in which he described being depressed by seeing “beautiful” women because he was stuck being “a man.”

When detectives first interviewed him, he denied having seen Heike anywhere but on the news, then told them, “That’s what I would want to look like.”

Investigators later said they found a photo of him in an outfit similar to the one she was wearing when she was killed.

Teasley’s boss told police he had recently been fired for being aggressive toward female employees and had stolen clothing.

His attorney referred to him as “she” in court.

Heike’s family told ABC15 they support the plea.

“After 3½ incredibly long and painful years, our family supports the State’s decision to enter into a plea agreement in Lauren’s case. This means we will not have to endure a trial or sit in a courtroom and hear every painful detail of the crime that took Lauren from us,” they said. “While no sentence will ever bring Lauren back, we are relieved knowing that he will never be released. He will never again have the opportunity to harm another person or cause another family to experience the unimaginable grief and trauma that ours has endured.”

It is currently unclear if Teasley will serve his life sentence in a male or female prison.

The post Transgender Killer Who Says He Targeted Victim on Hiking Trail Because She Was ‘What I Would Want to Look Like,’ Takes Deal and Avoids Death Penalty appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.