The man accused of murdering a missing Detroit teen will stand trial.
On Jan. 9, 2025, exactly one year since Na’Ziyah Harris disappeared, a judge decided Jarvis Butts will stand trial in the murder of the Detroit teen.
Butts faces multiple felonies in the suspected death of Harris. He will return to court Jan. 16.
Related: Timeline: What we learned in Na’Ziyah Harris’ disappearance nearly 1 year later
Background
Prosecutors said Butts was supposed to turn himself into 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 2024. 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.
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.
Testimony on Jan. 9, 2025
Text messages Butts sent to Na’Ziyah revealed
An interview with Butts between authorities on June 1, 2024, revealing disturbing text messages Butts allegedly sent to Na’Ziyah was shown in court Thursday morning. The explicit text messages were reportedly sent as early as September 2022, when Na’Ziyah was 12 years old.
Related: Court reveals disturbing messages ‘serial child rapist’ sent Na’Ziyah Harris before she went missing
In the interview with authorities, it’s revealed Na’Ziyah told Butts in September 2023 that she missed her period. He reportedly responded by telling her to get a pregnancy test or Plan B pill.
Sergeant Shannon Jones, the officer in charge of the investigation, testified most of the explicit messages exchanged were deleted from Butts' and Na’Ziyah’s phone but were recovered by authorities and were read out loud during the preliminary hearing on Jan. 9, 2025.
Read previous testimonies: Hearing to decide if ‘serial child rapist’ will stand trial in murder of Na’Ziyah Harris continues
