Court records show that, in the months before Christina Downer vanished, she and her boyfriend were involved in separate attempts to obtain restraining orders against his former girlfriend. The filings described allegations of stalking, threats and domestic violence. Both requests were later dismissed after Downer and her boyfriend did not appear in court.
Los Angeles County prosecutors have charged Downer’s boyfriend, 41-year-old Delorean Bijon Brandon, with first-degree murder. His former girlfriend, 34-year-old Kaylee Nicole Markowski, faces two felony counts of being an accessory after the fact.
Investigators believe Brandon killed Downer, 38, around Sept. 19, 2025. Her remains have not been found.
Downer’s disappearance came to authorities’ attention in December 2025, after her former husband reported that he had not heard from her for months. Her brother, “Saturday Night Live” writer Jimmy Fowlie, began asking publicly for information about her whereabouts that month.
Brandon, who lived with Downer in Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood, told police she had moved out months earlier. He said she left behind her belongings, car and miniature pinscher, Rex.
The LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division took over the case after Downer’s cellphone washed ashore at Santa Monica Beach. Investigators believe Brandon and Markowski used the phone to send messages that made it appear Downer had chosen to disappear.
In an April Instagram post, Fowlie said someone with the phone had used it to conceal Downer’s absence, ask for money and create a story that she was going “off the grid.” He said he feared the person responsible was trying to erase her, and wanted people to remember that she mattered to those who loved her.
In a September 2024 restraining-order filing, Downer accused Markowski of harassing and terrorizing her since December 2023. The allegations included threats to break into Downer’s home and assault her, as well as racial slurs. Downer also alleged that Markowski took her cat and a storage device containing intimate videos, then used the material to blackmail her.
Brandon filed his own request for a domestic violence restraining order against Markowski in July 2025. He alleged that she harassed him, targeted his car and tried to interfere with Downer’s employment. The court dismissed both his and Downer’s earlier cases after they failed to attend hearings.
In September 2025, Brandon sought another protective order, claiming Markowski hit and kicked him as he tried to leave and threatened to shoot him because he was involved with Downer. A judge denied the request and scheduled a hearing for Sept. 23. Brandon withdrew his filing on Sept. 18. Investigators believe Downer died within about a day.
A domestic violence specialist who is not involved in the case said courts generally consider the details of individual allegations, rather than simply counting the number of complaints, when deciding whether a case should proceed. Court backlogs and limited training in domestic violence can also make it harder to assess a broader pattern of abuse, she said.
The criminal complaint against Brandon also describes alleged domestic violence involving another woman. He is charged with two felony counts of injuring a cohabitant in connection with alleged assaults in 2022. The complaint says scissors were used in one of the incidents.
In a separate case, a woman filed a civil harassment restraining-order petition against Markowski in April 2022. A judge dismissed it two months later for lack of prosecution.
The domestic violence specialist cautioned that warning signs may be missed, and that judges’ familiarity with domestic violence varies. Victims may experience multiple incidents before leaving, she said. Protective orders, she added, do not by themselves indicate how dangerous a situation is, and may not deter people who pose the greatest risk.
Both defendants are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, with bail set at $2 million each. Brandon is represented by the Alternate Public Defender’s Office. Markowski’s attorney and the district attorney’s office declined to comment on the pending case.
Anyone with information about Downer’s case can contact the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division at 213-486-6850.
