Authorities Charge Detroit Man with Murder and Assault of Missing Teen Na'Ziyah Harris

A Detroit man is being charged with murder and sexual assault by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in relation to the case of Na’Ziyah Harris, who has been missing since January.

Detroit resident Jarvis Butts, 41, was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and abusing children sexually.

Harris’s body has not been located, despite the prosecutor’s office’s findings that she is dead. Authorities examined witness accounts, police reports, phone extractions, surveillance footage, medical records, and papers totaling 19 terabytes, 506 gigabytes of phone extractions, and 111 gigabytes of video.

In two different cases, Butts is also accused of sexually abusing two more females.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy stated that the girls were under 13 when the offenses were committed.

The 20-year-old victim of those attacks is said to have been raped by Butts in a Detroit home between April 2012 and April 2014.

One count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, all involving minors under the age of thirteen, are the charges against him.

The other victim, who is currently 13 years old, claims that Butts attacked her at a Detroit home between July 2015 and July 2017. Once more involving a child under 13, he was charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Butts’ arraignment is scheduled for Friday after 10 a.m.

Attorney describes Butts’ purported offenses against Na’Ziyah Harris

Harris supposedly met Butts on January 9 after school. Harris knew Butts through family. There is evidence that she texted Butts from her tablet, indicating that they would be meeting that day after school.

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According to the prosecutor’s office, she met Butts and a colleague after school and accompanied them to their auto repair shop on Connor in Detroit.

Butts supposedly checked into a motel that evening at 9:30 p.m., as shown by a receipt and a GPS coordinate that places him there.

After January 9, Harris was never seen again.

Butts was acquainted with Harris, according to the prosecutor’s office, because he is the father of Na’Ziyah’s biological aunt’s children. According to reports, Butts began texting Harris in September 2022 with explicit sexual content.

According to the evidence, she reportedly texted Butts in September 2023 to claim she hadn’t had her period, and in November 2023, Butts knew Harris was expecting.

Additionally, phone records reveal that Butts had looked up abortion possibilities on the internet.

Butts was reportedly in the Detroit region near the Rouge River on January 10, the day after Harris had been last seen. This is where the clothing Harris was last seen wearing was discovered.

“The evidence in this case will clearly show that the defendant’s alleged actions were beyond predatory,” Worthy stated. “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.”

An overview of the Na’Ziyah Harris case

On January 9, the 13-year-old was last observed alighting her school bus at the intersection of Cornwall and Three Mile Drive. The following day, her family notified the school district officials that she was missing.

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The Detroit Police Department then assumed control of the investigation on February 13. Worthy said at the news conference that if the school district had handed the matter over sooner, the inquiry would have proceeded more quickly.

Since then, Michigan State Police have investigated a pond in Clinton Township, and detectives have searched many spots throughout the city.

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A section of the Rouge River behind the Greater Grace Temple, off Seven Mile Road and Shiawassee, was identified by the police based on tips they had received. Thirteen more local, state, and federal partners supported Detroit police during the search.

The prosecutor’s office received a warrant request from the Detroit Police Department on August 15 and indicated that it was investigating the possibility of filing charges.

The prosecutor’s office stated at the time that it would require some time to finish the review and that it would not be providing any further information regarding the request.

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