Na'Ziyah Harris murder arraignment • Fallen tree kills boy on field trip • Tigers 1 win away from playoffs

FRIDAY NEWS HIT - A group of children were on a field trip to the Howell Nature Center on Thursday when a tree suddenly fell, killing one of them.

The students from Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in Northville were learning how to build a fire when a tree fell, hitting a 12-year-old boy. He was airlifted to Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, where he died.

"They started hearing some noise, some crackling like a tree was going to fall, and everybody took off running," Sheriff Michael Murphy said. "What a tragedy. I truly have no words."

An investigation into what caused the tree to topple is ongoing.

"There was no work being done," Murphy said. "We didn't have any high winds or anything. For whatever reason, it just decided it was time to tip over."

Sources tell FOX 2 that the trunk of the tree may have been rotted, and that's why it fell.

Charges in Na'Ziyah Harris case

Jarvis Butts, the man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering Na'Ziyah Harris, is expected to face a judge on Friday.

Butts, 41, of Highland Park, will be arraigned on charges stemming from three cases – Harris' murder and two other sexual assault cases.

He is facing first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and child sexually abusive material for the murder of Harris, who was 13.

Harris was last seen getting on a bus on Jan. 9 in Detroit. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Harris was texting with Butts and met up with him the day she disappeared.

Her body was never found, but Worthy said

Worthy also charged Butts in connection with the sexual assault of two other girls. On Thursday, she announced that he was being charged with sexually abusing two additional girls under the age of 13.

The prosecutor 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."

Judge back on bench after having teen handcuffed

A Detroit judge who was temporarily removed after ordering a teenager into jail clothes and handcuffs during a field trip is back on the bench but assigned to speeding tickets and other relatively minor offenses.

Judge Kenneth King lost courtroom duties in August and was ordered into social-emotional training by the chief judge at 36th District Court. Instead of handling key hearings in major felonies, he returned this week to the court’s traffic division.

"We appreciate his efforts in preparing for this role, and wish him success as he transitions into this new responsibility," Judge William McConico said in a written statement.

King’s attorney, Todd Perkins, said the judge is willing to work anywhere at the court.

"He truly understands and wholeheartedly embraces the concept of teamwork," Perkins said Thursday.

King got in trouble for singling out a 15-year-old girl for falling asleep and having what he considered to be a bad attitude while she was visiting his courtroom with other teens.

He ordered Eva Goodman into jail clothes and handcuffs — all while the field trip was on a livestream video. King also threatened her in front of her peers with juvenile detention before releasing her.

Tigers one win away from playoffs

The Detroit Tigers are one win away from cinching a playoff spot for the first time in a decade.

Justyn-Henry Malloy’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly helped the Detroit Tigers rally from a 3-0 deficit to move closer to the postseason with a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday afternoon.

Detroit, who have won five straight, entered the game tied with Kansas City for the second and third American League wildcard spots, two games ahead of the Minnesota Twins.

The Tigers trailed 3-2 with one out in the eighth, but Riley Greene singled off Garrett Cleavinger (7-5) and Matt Vierling drew a walk.

Colt Keith tied the game with an RBI single, bringing up Malloy — the last position player on the Tigers bench — to pinch hit for Kerry Carpenter. He lifted a fly ball to medium center and Vierling easily beat Jose Siri’s throw.

Beau Brieske (4-4) got the win with two innings of relief. Jason Foley pitched the ninth for his 27th save.

Good Samaritans rescue wandering toddler

Alert drivers saved a child's life this week when they spotted a small child wandering on a Macomb County road.

"It was the beginning of rush hour, and we all know that 21 Mile Road and Hall Road are very busy at that time of day," said Rita Skirpan. "And all of us were trying to get around it."

Skirpan was on Tilch Road in Macomb Township on Wednesday when she saw a girl who appeared to be younger than 2.

"I saw a very small little girl by the mailbox that's by the road," said Skirpan. "And I remember saying to my husband 'She's a little too close to the road.'"

Skirpan said another driver stopped and used his vehicle to block the road. 

"That man veered off the road to the side for oncoming traffic and stopped his Jeep," she said. "He decided to take the hit, and I have felt love for that man."

That driver and another woman grabbed the girl and got her safely back to her parents.

The Pulse: Election security & gender in politics 

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson discusses efforts to keep elections secure. Plus, could Kamala Harris' gender impact her chances of winning the presidency? A new poll shows that it could. 

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Today will be cloudy but mostly dry. However, rain is in the forecast.

What else we're watching

1. A notorious motorcycle club, the Highwaymen Motorcycle clubhouse, is shifting gears – putting their headquarters in Corktown up for sale. The Highwaymen have called the building on Michigan Avenue home for 70 years.
2. The former mayor of Inkster, Patrick Wimberly, has pleaded guilty in a bribery case involving $100,000, the US Attorney's Office announced on Thursday.
3. An ex-patient of a Taylor doctor suspected of running a pill mill is now questioning how many other lives have been ruined by him. Elizabeth Dew said she started crying when she learned her former doctor is facing such accusations. 
4. Jessica Lenore Kellar, who pleaded guilty to striking and killing a motorcyclist while intoxicated in 2023, was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 15 years in prison this week.
5. For the second time this year, Michigan Medicine is dealing with a leak of sensitive data, notifying tens of thousands of people about an employee email being compromised due to a cyberattack. The employee accepted an unsolicited prompt, which allowed hackers access to their email account and its contents. 

Deadly Helene downgraded to tropical storm after making landfall in Florida

Helene continues to weaken and is now a tropical storm after it made landfall along Florida’s Big Bend region late Thursday night as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, unleashing deadly effects on the Southeast including destructive hurricane-force wind gusts, an "unsurvivable" storm surge and torrential, flooding rain.

At least two people have reportedly been killed because of the storm in Wheeler County, Georgia, after a mobile home was damaged during one of the many Tornado Warnings that were issued. According to a report from FOX 5 in Atlanta, a third death in Georgia is also being investigated after reports of a vehicle that crashed into a tree in Colquitt County.

And at least one person was killed in Florida after a crash on Interstate 4 in the Tampa area that involved a highway sign on top of a vehicle.

Helene made landfall about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, Florida, at 11:10 p.m. ET Thursday, and impacts have been felt across the Southeast and into portions of the mid-Atlantic as the monster storm pushed farther inland and began to weaken.

While wind does remain a concern, the greatest threat from Helene continues to be the flash flooding as torrential rain falls across the region, sending rivers and streams out of their banks, onto roads and into communities, trapping residents.