A hearing will decide if there’s enough evidence for the suspect in 13-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris' disappearance to stand trial.
Testimonies continued on Jan. 6, 2025, and will continue into Tuesday.
Recommended Videos
Jarvis Butts faces multiple felonies in the death of Na’Ziyah Harris, a J. E. Clark Preparatory Academy student who went missing in January. While her body has not been recovered, police said there is an “overwhelming” amount of evidence that Butts murdered Harris.
Background
Prosecutors said Butts was supposed to turn himself in to authorities on a gun charge on Jan. 9, the day Na’Ziyah went missing, but that date was pushed back to February. Harris allegedly met up with Butts that day, and the two reportedly went to Ypsilanti before returning back to Detroit, where Butts checked into a motel.
Text records allege that Butts knew Harris was pregnant and that he began searching online about abortions, abortion pills, and drinking red anti-freeze.
Authorities believe Butts had been sexually abusing Harris since 2022 before killing her in January. Prosecutors said he had a history of targeting and befriending women to get close to and sexually abuse their daughters.
It’s not the only sexual abuse case Butts is involved with. He also has been charged for reportedly sexually abusing two other young girls, as well as a conviction for sexual assault in 2005. Prosecutors called Butts a “serial child rapist,” who sexually assaulted an 8-year-old family member and a girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter, who reportedly caught chlamydia from the assault.
He was charged on Sept. 27, 2024, as a habitual fourth-time offender.
Butts and Harris had reportedly known each other because he was the father of her cousins. The abuse of Harris allegedly began in 2022 with sexually explicit texts and photos being sent to the child.
He was tracked to the Rouge River in Detroit the day after her disappearance, where police would later recover the clothes Harris was last seen wearing. Authorities said there was damage to the clothing that could indicate a struggle.
Butts has been charged with first-degree premeditated murder, child sexually abusive material, and second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13.
He was denied bond.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Detroit Police Department’s Major Crimes Division at 313-596-2260.
Tips can be made anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-SPEAK-UP or going to their website.
Preliminary hearing -- what we learned
The preliminary hearing initially began on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, which focused on Harris and two other alleged victims—A 13-year-old and a 20-year-old testified in two separate sexual abuse cases.
The hearing focused on Harris continued on Jan. 6, 2025.
School employee, officer testifies
Derek Wolf, who worked for the Detroit Public Schools Police Department at the time of Na’Ziyah’s disappearance, spoke in court to explain how he initiated the missing person’s investigation. He, along with another officer, canvassed the school grounds and spoke with Na’Ziyah’s classmates. He also reviewed footage of her at a bus stop where she was last seen.
Forensic technician testifies
Former Detroit forensic technician Margaret Lovallo spoke in court about her experience in finding clothes she collected for evidence on 7 Mile and Bird. When she was a forensic technician back in March 2024, she found a pink jumpsuit, a black hoodie with white headphones in the pocket, gloves, a towel and a pair of black and white gym shoes in the area of 7 Mile and Bird. She took photos of the clothing and collected the evidence for further investigation.
Witness testifies
A woman took the stand on Monday, who claimed to have seen Na’Ziyah with Butts. Butts’ business partner, who went by King, is her nephew’s father. She said King and Butts were fixing her mother’s car and frequently visited her regarding the car. At one point, she said Na’Ziyah was brought along with Butts. She asked who the child was, and Butts said she was his partner’s niece. She said she didn’t look too much into why Na’Ziyah was brought with him.
Butts’ sister testifies
Butts’ sister, Tijuana Butts, spoke in court where she reported to police in March 2024 that she saw a young girl at Butts’ auto shop the day of her disappearance. She said she took her car to her brother’s shop for a repair and saw a young girl walking around from Butts’ car to the gas station next to the auto shop. She said she had never seen any little girls at her brother’s auto shop other than her nieces until she saw a girl matching Na’Ziyah’s description. She asked Butts who she was, and he told her that she was King’s niece. Butts’ sister did not know who she was until later when she listened to a podcast about Na’Ziyah and King told her the girl at the auto shop was Na’Ziyah. During her testimony, it’s revealed Butts has about 13 children—his sister claims she knows only eight of his children.
Mother of one of Butts' children testifies
The mother of one of Butts’ daughters spoke in court on Monday. She said Butts used her car twice, on Jan. 9, 2024, and the following day. She said he came to her house at 9 p.m. that night to borrow her car and brought it back the following morning. When she got her car back, her son found a pair of clear glasses in the backseat of the car. At that time, she was with Butts at the auto shop when her son discovered the glasses. When she took the glasses from her son, she said Butts took the glasses out of her hands and said they belonged to his son. Na’Ziyah’s last known photo shows her wearing a pair of clear glasses; however, she could not testify that those were her glasses. He reportedly borrowed her car again on Jan. 10, 2024, and brought it back a few hours later.
Butts called her after he turned himself in back in February 2024. In the phone call, he warned her that the police were searching for anything he had touched. She said in court she didn’t wipe down anything in her house or car prior to police searching her home on Feb. 15, 2024.
The court adjourned for Monday. The hearing is expected to continue into Jan. 7.
