DETROIT (WWJ) — Desmond Burks, the Detroit man accused of killing Dr. Devon Hoover in April of 2023, remains behind bars after being arraigned Thursday morning.
Charges including first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder and larceny of over $20,000 were announced Wednesday, more than a year after the well-known neurosurgeon was found shot to death and stuffed in the attic of his sprawling mansion in Detroit’s upscale Boston-Edison neighborhood.
Burks, 34, is also charged with using a computer to commit a crime, felon in possession of a firearm, and three counts of felony firearm. He is due back in court next Thursday for a probable cause hearing in Detroit’s 36th District Court.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy called the investigation, which spanned more than a year, “a massive undertaking,” noting there are several terabytes worth of digital data connected to the case.
Officials said Wednesday the investigation spanned four other states — Ohio, Indiana, Texas and California — and two other countries, England and France. The investigation also included more than 70 law enforcement officers, nearly 90 civilians and hundreds of hours of video footage between body-worn cameras, interviews and surveillance.
An autopsy concluded that Hoover, who worked at Ascension St. John Hospital on Detroit’s east side, had been shot twice in the back of the head. He was found in a third-floor attic crawl space, facedown, wearing only socks, wrapped in a blood-soaked carpet.
The discovery of his body came after Detroit police got a 911 call from Hoover’s family on April 23, 2023 requesting a wellbeing check after he failed to show up in Indiana to visit his mother. Hoover’s Range Rover had been found a day earlier blocking a driveway on Coyle Street.
Authorities found what appeared to be blood inside the SUV so it was tagged as evidence and taken to the DPD tow yard. After discovering the Range Rover belonged to Hoover, police went to his home on Boston Boulevard, where they found the driveway gate leading to the rear of the home wide open. Officers were unable to contact anyone at the residence when knocking on both the front and back doors and left.
They returned the following day after getting the call from his family.
Investigators soon learned that Hoover’s cell phone, wallet, money, credit cards and designer watches were missing from the home. Almost immediately after his murder, multiple fraudulent purchase were made from his various accounts and the purchases continued for several days, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Analysis of Hoover’s cell phone records showed Hoover and Burks exchanged about 4,000 communications and that the two had “an intimate relationship” with each other and on occasion Burks would charge Hoover for sec.
“The investigation was further complicated by the fact that many witnesses were reluctant to come forward to share sensitive and personal information,” prosecutors said.
On the day Hoover was murdered, prosecutors said records show Hoover’s phone traveled from his home to Burks’ address, then back to his home for a short time before returning to Burks’ home. It then went to Fairlane Mall in Dearborn and never returned to Hoover’s home.
“Numerous pieces of corroborating evidence” place Hoover’s phone in the same location as Desmond Burks. Prosecutors say the evidence includes Hoover’s phone call detail records, search engine account record; Desmond Burks’ cellular call detail records, Range Rover geolocation data, Project Greenlight video, 9900 block of Coyle Street surveillance video, and jewelry store surveillance video.
Other evidence includes surveillance video showing Burks parking Hoover’s Range Rover on Coyle Street, as well as designer watches belonging to the doctor found at Burks’ home.
At one point shortly after Hoover's death, Detroit Police arrested a "person of interest" on an unrelated charge. That unnamed person was eventually released , and no charges were filed in connection with Hoover's death. Worthy confirmed on Wednesday that that person was Burks.
Back in May, Burks was charged with second-degree murder in an unrelated hit-and-run incident.
Worthy said the case will be prosecuted by Wayne County Assistant Prosecutors Lisa Lindsey and Michael Glynne, adding: "We will continue to work tirelessly to bring justice to the Hoover family.”
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