DETROIT (WWJ) -- A man has been charged with first degree, premeditated murder in the case of a Detroit teen who disappeared after getting off a school bus early this year.
At a news conference Thursday, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced that 41-year-old Jarvis Ramon Butts AKA Jaris Ramon Butts of Detroit is charged with the murder of 13-year old Na'Ziyah Harris, as well as the sexual assaults of two other underage girls.
“The evidence in this case will clearly show that the defendant’s alleged actions were beyond predatory. They were vulturous - he groomed and preyed upon Na’Ziyah with expertise. We will prove that he killed young Na’Ziyah after he found out she was pregnant at 13 with his child," Worthy said.
Harris was last seen getting off a school bus last January in the area of Cornwall and Three Mile Drive, on Detroit’s east side.
In the months since her disappearance, there have been searches for Harris in Clinton Township, Ann Arbor and the Rouge River on Detroit’s west side, but the teen's body has not been found.
Officials said Detroit Police conducted a comprehensive investigation, which included witness statements, surveillance video, numerous documents, phone extractions, police reports, and medical records. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office reviewed 111 gigabytes of video, 506 GB of phone extractions and 19 GB of documents.
Worthy told WWJ's Jon Hewett and other reporters the "overwhelming evidence" will show that Butts had long been corresponding with Harris, that he had sexually assaulted her over the course of two years, that the teen had become pregnant in September of 2023, and that Butts ultimately killed her.
"The exploitation, the molestations, the sexual abuse, and the pregnancy that she was concealing, and the evidence will show that from whatever text messages to and with Jarvis Butts," Worthy said. "And we also know, the evidence will show, that there's no evidence of anyone else being the father of that child."
Prosecutors said Butts knew Harris because he had children with Harris' aunt.
The following is the order of events, as alleged and detailed in a release by prosecutors:
There is video of Na’Ziyah getting on the school bus on January 9, 2024.
Na’Ziyah used a DPS issued tablet that she used to communicate and communicated with an app.
She took one last picture of herself on the tablet. (See photo attached.)
Using her tablet, she sent a message to a device associated with Butts, indicating that they would be meeting up after she got out of school that day.
There is video of her getting out of school at the end of the day in the same clothes.
She meets up with Butts and a co-worker and goes back to their auto repair shop on Connor in Detroit.
Na’Ziyah is seen by Butts’s sister at the shop.
Butts, the co-worker, and Na’Ziyah were together in the co-worker’s car when they went to Ypsilanti and then returned to the shop on Connor. Butts’s phone places him at these locations.
At 9:30 p.m. to 12:20 p.m. Butts checked in to a motel. There is a receipt confirming this as well as his phone placing him at that location.
Na’Ziyah is never seen again after January 9, 2024.
On January 10, 2024, it is alleged that Butts was in the Rouge River area in Detroit, near where the clothing Harris was last seen wearing was found.
As for the additional sexual assaults, the WCPO provided the following information:
April 2012 to April 2014 - Female victim, now 20 years old – Home on LaSalle Boulevard
It is alleged that from April 2012 to April 2014 Defendant Butts sexually assaulted the victim at a residence on LaSalle Boulevard in Detroit. Further facts and evidence will be placed on the record at the preliminary examination.
Defendant Butts has been charged with First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Person Under 13, Defendant 17 or Older) and three counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (Person Under 13, Defendant 17 or Older).
July 2015 to July 2017 – Female victim, now 13-year-old – Home on Stout Street
It is alleged that from July 2015 to July 2017, Defendant Butts sexually assaulted the victim at a residence on Stout Street in Detroit. Further facts and evidence will be placed on the record at the preliminary examination.
Butts has been charged with Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct Person Under 13, Defendant 17 or Older).
Butts is expected to be arraigned in 36th District Court on Friday, September 27.
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