Delco woman tied to cult-like ‘Zizians’ faces trial in Maryland

A Delaware County woman connected to a cult-like group called the “Zizians” will be tried this week on charges related to multiple crimes allegedly perpetrated by the group.

The defendant, 33-year-old Michelle Zajko, was arrested last February in Maryland alongside two other people, including the alleged leader of the Zizians, Jack “Ziz LaSota, according to news reports. Zajko, who is originally from Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, is accused of possessing multiple guns, ammo, and drugs while trespassing in an area where she and the other group members were allegedly camping out.

Federal authorities also allege that Zajko lied about when she purchased the three guns she had in her possession; two of the guns are connected to a deadly shootout between other alleged members of the Zizians and Border Patrol agents in Vermont.

Zajko also reportedly remains a person of interest in the 2022 shooting death of her parents at their Chester Heights home.

Dubbed “the world’s first AI-inflected death cult” by WIRED magazine, the Zizians have a unique ideology that is characterized by anarchism, veganism, the belief that the two hemispheres of the brain can have distinct genders, and a desire to save the world from artificial intelligence. The group has been linked to at least six killings across the U.S.