Saturday Night Live writer Jimmy Fowlie has marked his sister Christina Downer’s birthday by sharing a video from what became their final time together, days after two people were arrested in connection with her killing.
In the Instagram post shared Thursday, Fowlie looked back on an otherwise ordinary trip to the movies with Downer. The video shows the siblings posing with a theater display for last year’s Tron: Ares.
“Today is my sister’s birthday, and so I wanted to share this video of what turned out to be our last moment together,” Fowlie wrote. “It truly was just an inconsequential night at the movies.”
Fowlie explained that he had previously found the promotional photo opportunities at the Grove puzzling and could not imagine posing at one with his friends without doing so ironically. That changed as he and Downer were leaving the theater that day.
“I just wanted to be extra and make her laugh, and I love how you can see her giggling as she walks up,” he wrote. “She’s wearing her slippers which i think is so cute. In this video I feel like you can feel how sweet her energy is.”
The writer also connected that moment to the childhood dynamic he shared with his sister, describing Downer as one of his favorite people to make laugh.
“You could argue my whole comedy career was actually born out of sitting at the dinner table as kids and acting dumb while our dad became increasingly irate at me,” Fowlie wrote. “It was a sacrifice that was always worth it.”
Arrests Bring Some Relief to Downer’s Family
Fowlie’s tribute followed the arrests of Delorean Bijon Brandon, 41, and Kaylee Markowski, 34. LAPD officers took both into custody last week for allegedly murdering Downer, disposing of her body and then concealing their involvement.
Brandon is believed to have been Downer’s boyfriend. The allegations against Brandon and Markowski have not been established as fact.
While reflecting on his sister’s birthday, Fowlie thanked those who had contacted the family and said the filing of charges had brought a measure of comfort to Downer’s relatives and friends.
“It brings our family and her friends some relief to know that charges have been filed in connection with Christina’s death,” he wrote. “Because this whole experience has been so endlessly depressing, today I want to spend a little time remembering how much fun I had with her and how lucky I am that she was my sister. Happy birthday, Chris!”
From Missing-Person Search to Homicide Investigation
Downer’s family reported her missing on Dec. 18, 2025. The report followed a welfare check requested by her ex-husband, who had not heard from her for an extended period.
The case was later taken over by detectives from the LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division after Downer’s cellphone was found washed ashore on a Santa Monica beach.
During the initial search last December, Fowlie appealed to friends and social-media followers for help as he searched Downer’s Koreatown neighborhood. At the time, he said the family was “worried that she isn’t safe.”
In April, Fowlie announced that the LAPD had informed the family that Downer was “no longer alive.” He also said authorities were treating her disappearance as a homicide.
ShowBiz Take
Fowlie’s birthday tribute gives a deeply personal dimension to a case that has moved from a missing-person search to a homicide investigation and arrests. Rather than allowing the latest legal development to define his sister’s birthday, he chose to center a spontaneous moment of laughter from their last night together.
The theater video carries added emotional weight because Fowlie said the evening felt inconsequential at the time. His decision to share it preserves Downer not simply as the subject of an investigation, but as the sister whose laughter helped shape his own relationship with comedy.