The ex-boyfriend of Ashley Elkins, a Macomb County woman who went missing in early January, appeared in court for a probable cause conference Wednesday.
Deandre Booker was charged with premeditated murder, tampering with evidence, disinterment of a body and concealing the death of an individual in connection the murder of Elkins.
Walking into court Wednesday, Booker came face-to-face with Eklins’ family, who still have questions.
“It won’t really be justice without a body for me,” said Monika Elkins, Ashley’s mother. “You know, him going to prison and not getting out is good, but me not being able to bury her -- that’s hard for me.”
The legal proceedings have faced delays, partly due to the massive amount of discovery involved, with the prosecution citing about two terabytes of information.
“This would be a circumstantial case for the prosecutor, so they’re going to have to make sure that they do everything the right way,” said legal expert Lillian Diallo. “It’s going to have to be a foundational type of case where they start at A to get to Z.”
For Elkins’ family, the road to justice appears to be a long journey. Monika Elkins expressed her hopes for the case, stating, “It’s going to be a long time, but I want them to make sure that they have everything on him so that he can’t get out.”
Another probable cause conference will take place June 25.
What happened
Elkins was last seen Jan. 2, 2025, when officials say her cellphone placed her at an apartment in Roseville belonging to Booker, her ex-boyfriend.
Police said they found clues in a dumpster at the apartment that indicated the mother of two was killed. That led police to search a specific area of the Pine Tree Acres Landfill in Lenox Township.
It’s the same landfill where Detroit police spent weeks in 2022 searching for the body of Zion Foster. Her body was never found, but her cousin was convicted in her death
The search for Elkins was called off after seven days, from Jan. 13 through Jan. 19.
Police recovered what they call “lookalike items” on Wednesday, Jan. 15, that could belong to Elkins. But further lab testing was needed.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Ashley Elkins’ family. You can donate here.
Booker, 32, was taken into custody days later in Flint. Prosecutors pointed to his recent search history as evidence he planned to run.
He was initially charged with lying to police and arraigned on Jan. 9, 2025.
Bond was set at $250,000. A judge denied his request for lower bond.
--> Full timeline on the disappearance of Macomb County woman Ashley Elkins
On Jan. 22, 2025, Booker’s lawyer claimed he wasn’t a flight risk as he lived in Metro Detroit his entire life, and the bond is unusually high for one four-year felony charge with no prior criminal record. He asked Judge Joseph Boedeker to reduce the bond.
Boedeker agreed the bond was “extraordinarily” high for one charge, but he believed the judge in the arraignment had set the high bond based on Booker’s internet searches after Elkins went missing.
Booker’s search history revealed that while he was in Flint, he looked up information on the fastest routes from Flint to Ohio, what to do on the run, if blood is traceable, how to beat a polygraph, and deleting Google search history.
On Jan. 31, Booker was arraigned on murder charges after investigators analyzed the DNA tests from the dumpster at the apartment.
