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 she disappeared, Los Angeles police confirmed Friday.
NBC4 Investigates first reported earlier Friday that two men had been arrested in connection with Downer’s murder.
The two people arrested were identified as 41-year-old Delorean Bijon Brandon and 34-year-old Kaylee Nicole Markowski.
Downer’s boyfriend, Brandon, initially claimed that she left their shared Koreatown residence after her ex-husband applied for a welfare check for Downer. Brandon also told the LAPD that she left all of her belongings behind, including her car and her dog.
When Downer’s cellphone washed up on the beach in Santa Monica later, homicide detectives took over the case and began looking into it more closely, the LAPD said.
Without providing details, the LAPD said its detectives believed Brandon and Markowski were responsible for Downer’s murder, then disposed of her body and covered up 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 bound by restraining orders — all of which were dismissed because the parties never appeared in court. Brandon filed a restraining order against Markowski in recent years, and Downer filed a restraining order against Markowski about a year before his disappearance.
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 was last contacted in late November, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
In a social media post shared in April, Fowlie said his sister was “no longer alive.”
However, the Los Angeles Police Department said law enforcement continues to investigate Downer’s disappearance.
“Our prayers for her to be found safe have turned into prayers for the truth to be revealed and those responsible to be held accountable,” Fowlie’s April 29 message read. “We have reason to believe that in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, her phone and social media were compromised. The person(s) in possession of her phone used it to hide the fact that she was gone, to demand money, and to create a false story that she was going ‘off the grid.’
Authorities did not confirm they were searching for the remains and only said they were searching the area for evidence.
The LAPD told NBC4 Investigates that detectives in its Robbery-Homicide Division, assisted by K-9 units, were searching for evidence related to Downer’s disappearance. The division handles some of the department’s most complex and high-profile investigations.
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