Missing Na'Ziyah Harris: Judge sends case to trial, says Jarvis Butts 'intentionally killed her'

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The case of Na'Ziyah Harris will go to trial after a judge saw the evidence was enough to meet the threshold of probable cause. 

Judge Aliyah Sabree called Butts a "monster" before binding him over to circuit court, sending the case along. He is charged with first-degree murder, criminal sexual conduct, and child sexually abusive material.

The preliminary hearing happened exactly one year after Harris went missing. Since then, mountains of evidence showing Butts had a relationship with Harris, who was 12 years old at the time he groomed her, came before police. 

Many of the details of that connection were revealed on the last day of the hearing, including hundreds of text messages.

That was also grounds for the prosecution to elevate the criminal sexual conduct charge to the first degree, due to her age. 

"Na'Ziyah deserved so much more. And while I mentioned other people that failed her, Jarvis Butts, you are the monster in this whole picture," she said.

Butts will appear in circuit court for binding on Jan. 16. 

*The preliminary hearing includes graphic testimony of sexual grooming of a minor. Viewer discretion is advised*

Closing Arguments

The prosecution presented its closing argument first, outlining evidence that was given to the court over the last four days. 

They touched on blood found on the missing teenager's sweatshirt, which was found in an area that Jarvis Butts was at the day after Na'Ziyah Harris was last seen.

They also referenced the extensive list of text messages that indicate the two had a relationship, which the prosection believes led to Harris becoming pregnant.

While Butts was supposed to turn himself in to jail for a separate conviction on Jan. 9, prosecutors believe his reference to a "legal issue" had to do with impregnating a teenager. That motive is what led to him killing Harris, prosecutors said.

The defense argued that without a body, or any communication indicating a plan to kill Harris, the evidence against Butts did not meet the threshold to determine cause, let alone a conviction.

The defense also argued the location information about where Butts was on the day Harris went missing doesn't prove he was with her. He had visited one of the women whom he had a relationship with, but they never observed him with Harris. 

The defense added the blood stain on a pink jumpsuit believed to be Harris' was so small that the body fluid expert worried she would not be able to test it again.

Testimony concludes

After more than two dozen witnesses, four days of testimony, and an array of evidence including text messages, clothing, police interviews, and more, the prosecution concluded its questioning.

The defense did not call any witnesses and the judge said closing arguments would begin Thursday afternoon.

Incriminating text messages

Sergeant Shannon Jones read over a hundred text messages exchanged between Jarvis Butts and Na'Ziyah Harris in 2022 and 2023.

Many were explicit and included making plans to have sex, as well as images, and concerns about Harris being pregnant. She was 12 years old at the time of the messages.

According to Jones, Harris had saved Butts' contact information as "Bae for life."

The last messages exchanged between the devices owned by the defendant and the victim were in late November.

Clips from police interview with Butts

Prosecutors kicked off the fourth day with more clips from a police interview with Jarvis Butts in June 2024. 

Sergeant Shannon Jones, the officer in charge of the case, asked Butts about text messages exchanged between him and Na'Ziyah Harris that indicate the two had a relationship. 

Butts denied the two were physical together, despite messages indicating otherwise. At one point, he texted her to "be mine."

Butts also denied seeing Harris the day she disappeared, according to the police interview, instead telling Jones he had seen her two days before.  

Preliminary Hearing Overview

Butts is charged with sexually assaulting and murdering Harris, who was 13 when she disappeared from Detroit last January. Police never found her body, but investigators say there is enough evidence to show she was killed. 

Some witnesses who have previously testified include Butts' former fiancée, a digital forensic specialist, numerous police officers, the person who found Harris' school ID, and Harris' grandmother.

Read a recap of day three testimony here.

What happened to Na'Ziyah Harris?

Harris was last seen getting off a bus in Detroit last January.

Her disappearance led to police searching areas around Southeast Michigan.

While Harris's body was never found, prosecutors charged Butts with murder and rape in September. 

When announcing charges against the 41-year-old, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said evidence shows that Butts, who knew Harris' 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.

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.

What is Jarvis Butts charged with?

Butts, of Highland Park, was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and child sexually abusive material for the alleged murder of Harris.

Other charges against Butts

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."

He was bound over for trial in those two cases last November.

Crime and Public SafetyDetroit