Boyfriend of ‘SNL' writer's missing sister among 2 arrested for murder
The boyfriend of Christina Downer, the sister of “Saturday Night Live” writer Jimmy Fowlie, is among two people arrested on suspicion of murder nearly a year after her disappearance, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Friday.
NBC Los Angeles Investigates first reported earlier Friday that two men were arrested in connection with Downer’s murder.
The two arrested people were identified as 41-year-old Delorean Bijon Brandon and 34-year-old Kaylee Nicole Markowski.
Brandon, Downer’s boyfriend, initially claimed that she had moved out of their shared residence in Koreatown after her ex-husband requested a welfare check on Downer. Brandon also told the LAPD that she left behind all her belongings, including her car and dog.
When Downer’s cellphone washed ashore at Santa Monica Beach later, homicide detectives took over the case and began taking a closer look, the LAPD said.
Without providing details, the LAPD said its detectives believe Brandon and Markowski were responsible for Downer’s murder and then disposed of her body and concealed the crime.
Brandon was arrested Friday on Garvanza Avenue near Figueroa Street in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, while Markowski was taken into custody in Tarzana, the LAPD said. They were each held on $2 million bail and face a murder charge.
Legal documents show all three were connected by restraining orders — all of which were dismissed because the parties never appeared in court. Brandon filed restraining orders against Markowski in the last few years, and Downer filed a restraining order against Markowski roughly a year before she disappeared.
Earlier this month, authorities searched a property in Joshua Tree in connection with her disappearance. The LAPD said investigators were led to an Airbnb property as part of their search for Downer and conducted an extensive search with the assistance of K-9 units and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Downer was reported missing in December 2025. The 38-year-old had last been contacted in late November, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
In a social media post shared in April, Fowlie posted that his sister was “no longer alive.”
However, the Los Angeles Police Department said law enforcement officials continued to investigate Downer’s disappearance.
“Our prayers for her to be found safely have transformed into prayers for the truth to be revealed and for those responsible to be held accountable,” Fowlie’s post from April 29 read. “We have reason to believe that in the weeks before she went missing, her phone and social media were compromised. The individual(s) in possession of her phone used it to hide the fact she was gone, to ask for money, and to create a false narrative that she was going ‘off the grid.’”
Authorities did not confirm that they were searching for remains and only said they are looking for evidence in the area.
The LAPD told NBC Los Angeles Investigates that detectives from its Robbery-Homicide Division, assisted by K-9 units, are searching for evidence related to Downer’s disappearance. The division handles some of the department’s most complex and high-profile investigations.
This story originally appeared on NBCLosAngeles.com.
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