MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office and the Roseville Police Department held a press conference Friday regarding an update on the case of Ashley Elkins.
Officials confirmed blood was found in Deandre Booker’s apartment bathroom and deemed it belonged to Elkins.
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Police gave very limited details on the investigation as it’s still ongoing and evidence is still being processed.
Although Elkins’ body was never found, officials believe the evidence found in Booker’s apartment is enough to put Booker through trial and possibly convict him of murder.
The ex-boyfriend of Ashley Elkins, a Macomb County woman who went missing in early January, was arraigned on murder charges Friday.
Booker was arraigned on Jan. 31, 2025, on the following charges relating to the murder of Elkins:
- Premeditated murder
- Tampering with evidence
- Disinterment of a body
- Concealing the death of an individual
During the arraignment on Friday, officials said CCTV footage showed Elkins arriving at Booker’s apartment on Jan. 2, 2025, during the early morning hours. Booker was seen hours later leaving the apartment in Elkins’ car without her.
15 hours later, police said video footage showed Booker going in and out of his apartment, and Elkins was nowhere to be seen.
When police searched Booker’s apartment, they found a “substantial” amount of blood in the bathroom.
Booker was remanded with no bond at the Macomb County Jail.
He is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 5, 2025.
Related: Ashley Elkins' ex-boyfriend arraigned on multiple charges in connection to her murder
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.
Ex-boyfriend arrested
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 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.
A probable cause conference was scheduled for Feb. 26, 2025. The preliminary examination is scheduled for March 5, 2025.
