Key facts
- Michelle Zajko has been charged with murder, burglary, and conspiracy in the 2022 deaths of her parents, Rita and Richard Zajko.
- Authorities believe Zajko did not act alone and that the killings are linked to the Zizians group.
- Zajko is currently incarcerated in Maryland on unrelated charges.
- The Zizians group has been linked to at least six deaths since 2022.
- Zajko is also accused of providing the firearm used in the January 2025 killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland.
Michelle Zajko, a member of the group known as Zizians, has been charged with murder, burglary, and conspiracy in the 2022 killings of her parents, Rita and Richard Zajko, in Pennsylvania. Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse announced the charges Wednesday, stating that Zajko did not act alone.
Zajko has been jailed in Maryland since February 2025 on other charges. Prosecutors described the Zizians as a group of young, intelligent computer scientists who share radical beliefs on topics including veganism, animal rights, gender identity, and artificial intelligence. The group has been linked to at least six deaths since 2022, including the killings of her parents, an attack on a California landlord, the landlord's subsequent killing, and a highway shootout in Vermont that resulted in the death of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent and another Zizian.
Authorities had long considered Zajko a person of interest in her parents' homicides. She was arrested in Maryland along with Daniel Blank and Jack "Ziz" LaSota, whom authorities identify as the group's leader. Police described the individuals as having "ties with the Zizians Cult." Zajko faces state charges of trespassing and illegal gun and drug possession in Maryland, while LaSota faces a federal charge of illegal gun possession by a fugitive. A competency evaluation has been requested for LaSota in his federal case.
Zajko has denied any involvement in her parents' deaths, suggesting in court filings that her father might have killed her mother and then himself. She wrote in an April 2025 letter, "I didn’t murder my parents." Her attorneys in Maryland did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and the Delaware County Public Defender’s office declined to comment. Online court records did not immediately indicate if Zajko has an attorney for the Pennsylvania case.
The couple was shot to death in their Chester Heights home on New Year’s Eve 2022. A neighbor's doorbell camera captured video of a car arriving at the home, followed by a voice shouting "Mom!" and an exclamation of "Oh my God! Oh, God, God!" The prosecutor stated that the couple was executed shortly after Rita Zajko texted her daughter in an attempt to reconcile, a text that went unanswered.
Zajko was living in Vermont at the time of her parents' deaths and was questioned by police there. She was briefly taken into custody at a Pennsylvania hotel shortly after the killings but was released without charges. LaSota, who was staying at the same hotel, was charged with obstructing the homicide investigation and disorderly conduct.