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 continued into Tuesday.
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.
What happened in court on Tuesday, Jan. 7
2:38 p.m. - Michigan State Police crime lab scientist testifies
Erica Anderson from Michigan State Police testified she tested the DNA samples on the items found on 7 Mile and Berg, as well as mattress pad cuttings known to be owned by Butts.
She said DNA results from the headphones found by investigators in March 2024 were inconclusive. She testified there were four DNA samples found on the mattress pad cuttings—at least one of them was male.
She received DNA samples of Na’Ziyah and compared them to the items found on 7 Mile and Berg in March 2024.
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1:55 p.m. - Court resumes, first testimony after lunch break begins
This testimony is not being livestreamed due to the witness being a minor.
The child testified that Butts allegedly took her, Na’Ziyah and his daughter to his work to sexually assault Na’Ziyah and his daughter. Butts allegedly tried to sexually assault the child, as well—she was 8 years old at the time.
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12:52 p.m. - Court adjourns for lunch—Scheduled to return at 1:45 p.m.
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12:15 p.m. - Detective from Detroit Police Department testifies
Detective Jason Mays, who focuses on homicide cases, testified he interviewed Butts at the Detroit Police Department headquarters, who was in custody for a separate case at the time.
The recording of the over two-hour interview Mays and his partner, Lisa Johnson, conducted on Feb. 15, 2024, was released in court. In the recording, Mays asked Butts if he knew who Na’Ziyah was and showed a picture of her.
In the recorded interview, Butts said he had a legal issue in Clinton Township on Jan. 9, 2024. Mays testified he did not confirm if that was true. Butts also said Na’Ziyah would occasionally come to his auto shop to work, as well as his own daughter. Mays testified he did not confirm if that was true.
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12:05 p.m. - Resident near 7 Mile testifies
A woman said on March 7, 2024, that she found Na’Ziyah’s school ID on the sidewalk near her home on 7 Mile and Evergreen.
She testified she stepped over the ID for 2.5 weeks from a nearby bus stop before deciding to pick it up. When she picked up the ID that was facedown, she recognized the girl’s name because she had heard about her disappearance on the news. She took the bus to a local gas station to put the ID on a lid to prevent any more fingerprints and called the police.
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12:00 p.m. - Court resumes
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11:39 a.m. - Court takes a 10-minute break
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10:50 a.m. - Detroit police sergeant testifies
Sergeant Melanie O’Rourke, who specializes in major crimes, testified as an expert to explain how police were able to track Butts' location on the day Na’Ziyah went missing through his phone calls.
By looking at his location from his phone calls, police gathered Butts' phone was allegedly in the area where Na’Ziyah was last seen and the area of 7 Mile and Berg.
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10:33 a.m. - U.S. Border Patrol officer testifies
On March 12, 2024, a U.S. Border Patrol officer testified that he, along with a search and rescue team, were at 7 Mile and Berg relating to Na’Ziyah’s disappearance. He testified he was searching near the river because the water level was high the week prior—officials believe some items may have washed up on land when the water levels decreased.
Near the river, he said he found child-sized clothing just south of the intersection, near an abandoned building. He described the clothing as an inside-out pink onesie balled up in a wooded area with a shoe inside.
He testified the clothing he found had not been there for a long period of time as there was no discoloration in the clothing and no evidence of animals getting into it. He described the clothing looked “fresh.”
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10:18 a.m. - Butts' ex-fiancée testifies
Butts’ ex-fiancée spoke in court on Tuesday. She’d known Butts since 2019.
She testified that Butts asked her to drive him to court on Jan. 9, 2024, and Feb. 7, 2024, so he could turn himself in for separate charges. On Jan. 9, his hearing was rescheduled to Feb. 7.
While driving him, she asked him where his phone was. He told her he didn’t have it. Police later questioned his fiancée about his phone, to which she said she didn’t know. However, police searched her car and found his phone.
She testified Butts was very protective of his phone. She said she tried to get into his phone on numerous occasions and confronted him about how protective he was because she suspected he was with other women. She testified she stayed with him because he was good with her children.
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Testimonies are expected to continue at 10 a.m. on Jan. 7, 2025. You can watch the hearing live here.
Coverage on the testimonies brought to court on Monday can be read at the bottom of the article.
Background
Prosecutors said Butts was supposed to turn himself in to authorities on a gun charge on Jan. 9, 2024, 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 Berg. 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 Berg. 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 Moore’s nephew’s father. Moore 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. Moore 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, Johnson 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, Johnson 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 Johnson 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.
