The Eyrie

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles County prosecutors have charged two people in connection with the suspected killing of Christina Downer, the sister of Saturday Night Live writer Jimmy Fowlie. Authorities say Downer’s boyfriend, Delorean Bijon Brandon, is accused of murder, and Brandon’s former girlfriend, Kaylee Markowski, is accused of helping after the fact.

Downer was first reported missing in December after her concerned ex-husband asked police to check on her. Her disappearance later became the focus of a homicide investigation, even though her body has not been found. Prosecutors say the case has now reached a new stage with criminal charges and a search for accountability.

Prosecutors say Brandon killed Downer in September 2025

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office says investigators believe Brandon killed Downer around Sept. 19, 2025, then turned to Markowski for help disposing of her body. District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said prosecutors are charging two people they believe played a role in Downer’s death and disappearance.

Brandon faces murder charges as well as two counts of injuring a spouse. Prosecutors also say he is accused of assaulting his wife on two separate occasions in 2022. The district attorney’s office did not say in the charging announcement where Downer’s remains may be, and she has not been located.

Hochman said the family and friends of the missing woman have lived with uncertainty and loss for more than a year. He said the office intends to hold the accused accountable while investigators continue looking into the case.

Jimmy Fowlie’s public pleas helped keep the case visible

Fowlie publicly asked for help finding his sister after she was reported missing. On Instagram in December, he told followers that Downer might also have gone by the name Christina Fowlie and asked anyone with information to contact police.

The next day, he shared another message with a photo of Downer and her dog, saying she was very attached to the animal and that he had last heard from her on Nov. 26. His posts helped draw attention to the disappearance at a time when the family still believed she might be found safe.

By April 2026, Fowlie said the Los Angeles Police Department had told the family that Downer was no longer alive and that the case had shifted from a missing-person investigation to a homicide probe. He said the family’s hope of finding her safely had turned into a search for the truth.

Investigators focused on Downer’s phone and other digital clues

Fowlie also said investigators believed someone had compromised Downer’s phone and social media accounts before her disappearance. He wrote that people with access to the phone had used it to hide that she was gone, ask for money, and create a false story that she had gone off the grid.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the investigation shifted after Downer’s phone washed ashore on a Santa Monica beach. Police then moved the case to the robbery homicide division, signaling that detectives were treating it as a more serious criminal investigation.

Authorities later searched an Airbnb in Joshua Tree in October in connection with the disappearance. It is not clear from the charging announcement whether investigators recovered evidence there, but the search shows how the case expanded beyond the family’s early missing-person concerns.

Court filings describe a bitter dispute between Brandon and Markowski

Documents obtained by The Los Angeles Times suggest Brandon and Markowski had a strained relationship that stretched back years. Brandon filed for a restraining order against Markowski on Sept. 2, 2025, weeks before prosecutors say Downer was killed.

In that filing, Brandon claimed Markowski became violent after he ended their relationship and began seeing Downer. He accused her of keying his car, sending threats, and trying to interfere with Downer’s work. A temporary restraining order was denied, and Brandon later canceled the scheduled hearing.

Downer had also sought court protection from Markowski in September 2024. In her filing, she said Markowski stole her spare key, copied it, and took a zip drive containing compromising photos. She also alleged blackmail, repeated blocked calls, and an AirTag placed in Brandon’s car.

Brandon is jailed on a multimillion-dollar bail as the case moves forward

Both Brandon and Markowski are scheduled for an arraignment and plea hearing on Dec. 29, according to court records reviewed by Oxygen. Brandon is being held on $3.13 million bail, while no bail amount was listed for Markowski in jail records.

Neither defendant’s attorneys immediately responded to inquiries from Oxygen. The district attorney’s announcement did not include any comment from the defense, and the case remains active as prosecutors prepare for the next court date.

For Downer’s family, the latest charges mark a grim turn in a case that began with a missing-person plea and ended with a homicide investigation. Even without a recovered body, prosecutors say they now believe they know who was involved and how the alleged crime unfolded.

What prosecutors say happened after Christina Downer vanished

Prosecutors say the timeline centers on the weeks before Downer was reported missing in December. They believe she disappeared in September, that Brandon killed her around Sept. 19, and that others may have helped conceal what happened afterward.

That sequence is the basis for the murder charge and the accessory allegation now filed in Los Angeles County. The district attorney’s office says the charges are meant to address both the alleged killing and the steps prosecutors say were taken to hide evidence of it.

Even so, key questions remain unanswered in public court records, including the location of Downer’s remains. Investigators have not said publicly whether the search efforts in Santa Monica, Joshua Tree, or elsewhere have produced any final resolution for the family.