A 9-year-old boy found dead and buried in a shallow grave behind his former home in Detroit earlier this year told Child Protective Services 10 months earlier that his mom regularly choked him and “wants to kill him.”

Zemar King’s mother, 41-year-old Brandee Katrice Pierce, heard the words of her son Friday during her formal arraignment on charges of murder, child abuse, tampering with evidence, and concealing a person’s death, The Detroit News reported.

King’s body was found in the backyard of the Detroit home on January 6 by the landlord, who was preparing the property for new tenants, as CrimeOnline reported. The boy’s hands and feet were bound, authorities said.

Investigators believe Pierce killed the boy and buried him in the yard in October. She moved to Georgia in November, where she was arrested and extradited to Michigan.

A magistrate judge entered a not guilty plea on Pierce’s behalf on Friday and ordered her held without bond, according to The News. She has a probable cause conference scheduled for March 7 followed by a preliminary examination on March 13.

The landlord called police on January 6 after finding a small human foot sticking out of the frozen ground. An autopsy determined the boy was choked and smothered to death.

Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Tina Ripley told the court on Friday that Pierce, King, and her other child went to a hospital for an incident in April 2024, and during that visit, King told Child Protective Services that his mother “chokes him and wants to kill him.” She did not provide CPS’s response to those comments.

“She heard his last gasping breath and decided to walk way,” Ripley said. “When she came back, Zemar was blue. And instead of helping him, she decided to bind his arms and legs, put him in a wagon, take him out to the hole she had dug in her backyard and bury him.”

After King’s death, she and her other son, a toddler, moved to Georgia, where officials say the 3-year-old is now in foster care. Ripley said she was twice arrested in Georgia, on charges related to her son and drugs.

Pierce faces up to life without parole if convicted.