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Charges announced in missing Na’Ziyah Harris case
After months of investigating, the Wayne County Prosecutor has charged a single individual in the death and of Na'Ziyah Harris. Jarvis Butts, 41, of Highland Park, was charged with murder, criminal sexual conduct and child sexual abuse of material. He was also charged with other sex crimes as well.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - More than nine months after Na'Ziyah Harris disappeared from Detroit, a suspect is facing charges for sexually assaulting and murdering the girl.
Jarvis Butts, 41, of Highland Park, is facing charges of first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and child sexually abusive material for the murder of Harris, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced Thursday.
Jarvis Butts (MDOC)
Harris, who was 13, was last seen getting off a bus at Cornwall and 3 Mile in Detroit on Jan. 9, but never went home. She was reported missing the next day. Worthy said text messages showed that Harris met up with Butts on the day she disappeared.
"The evidence shows overwhelmingly in this case that she is deceased," Worthy said.
Worthy said evidence shows that Butts, who knew Harris's family members, allegedly groomed the girl starting in 2022. Harris was pregnant when she was killed, and Butts was allegedly the unborn child's father.
According to the prosecutor's office, Butts searched for abortions, abortion pills, and drinking red anti-freeze before Harris's death.
Na’Ziyah Harris still missing on 14th birthday, 9 months after she disappeared from Detroit
The search for Na’Ziyah Harris, who was last seen getting off a bus in Detroit in January, continues on her 14th birthday.
Both police and Harris's family have spent time looking for the girl. Authorities have searched numerous areas in the city and around Metro Detroit, including part of Pittsfield Township and a pond in Clinton Township, with no success. Despite never locating her body, Worthy said there is evidence to support the fact that the girl was killed.
According to Worthy, Harris was very active on social media and never missed school. After Jan. 9, she stopped using social media and did not return to school - both rare for the teen.
The prosecutor also said that investigators found clothing believed to be Harris's in an area Butts visited near the Rouge River around 7 Mile and Berg. Worthy said this clothing was damaged, indicating there may have been a struggle.
"This is one of the most difficult cases that I have been part of," Detroit Police Chief James White said.
Na'Ziyah Harris disappearance timeline
The prosecutor's office provided a rough timeline of the day Harris disappeared.
- Na’Ziyah took the school bus to school.
- She had her hair in two braided puff balls, clear framed glasses, a white sweater with a black jacket over it, a colorful Rugrats puffy jacket, with a fur lined hood, with light blue jeans and Nike shoes.
- There is video of Na’Ziyah getting on the school bus.
- 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.
- 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.
Na'Ziyah Harris on the day she disappeared
Other sex crime charges
In addition to announcing charges in the Harris case, Worthy has also charged Butts with sexually abusing two other children who were under 13 at the time. Worthy said one of the victims, who is now 20, was allegedly abused between April 2012 and April 14, while the other victim, who is now 11, was abused from July 2015 until July 2017.
He has been charged with five counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for those assaults.
Court records show that Butts also previously served time in prison for sexually assaulting a child in 2004.
"Mr. Butts targeted and befriended women to have sexual relationships with their young daughters," Worthy said. "He was a classic and expert groomer and pedophile."
Butts is expected to be arraigned on Friday morning.
Missing Na’Ziyah Harris: Family members get new hope with chance for charges
The evidence included in the warrant could be enough to file charges against a person of interest.