Na’Ziyah Harris murder: Neighbor who found teen's ID, DNA, and mobile device experts testify
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Jarvis Butts, the man charged in the disappearance and murder of Na'Ziyah Harris in Detroit, returned to court again Tuesday as his preliminary exam continues.
Several more witnesses testified during the preliminary hearing on Tuesday, which included DNA experts, a woman who found Na'Ziyah Harris's ID, and mobile device information of Butts.
The judge will resume court Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Detroit school safety liaison + police detective
George Harris worked as a liaison for school safety and has worked as a lieutenant for Detroit police. He was assigned to lead the western patrol division for the department's intelligence unit.
He testified to some of the school's search efforts for Na'Ziyah Harris, which included finding text messages between the teenager and Jarvis Butts, who told her he planned to pick her up from school on Jan. 9.
Prosecutors then called Det. Antonio Carlisi, who works with the homicide unit at the Detroit Police Department. He discussed a RING camera that showed a girl getting off a school bus.
State police forensic scientist testifies
Erica Anderson was called to the stand as an expert in DNA analysis. She works with the Michigan State Police out of their lab in Northville.
Prior to her testimony, a minor spoke in court after lunch.
She analyzed swabs taken from several articles of clothing from both Na'Ziyah Harris and Jarvis Butts, as well as a mattress pad and mattress pad cover.
Police question suspect about Na'Ziyah Harris
An interview was played after a Detroit police detective was called to the stand. Detective Jason Mays spoke to Butts after he had already been taken into custody for a separate crime.
Butts told Mays he had last seen Na'Ziyah in late December or early January at his grandmother's house. He questioned him about text messages between himself and the teenager.
Na'Ziyah Harris ID found
Police were called to a gas station on Detroit's west side in March after a woman said she found the ID with Na'Ziyah's face on it. The woman who found it is named Valerie Smith.
Testifying on Tuesday, she told the court she had been walking over the ID for about two weeks before deciding to pick it up. After seeing the face on it, she traveled on a city bus before going to a gas station and had them call police.
Officers responded and had her show them where she found the ID, she testified in court.
Witness describes finding Na'Ziyah Harris school ID
A woman walking from by her home found a school ID associated with Na'Ziyah Harris in March. She told the court it had been on the ground for two-and-a-half-weeks before she decided to pick it up. She soon had police called to come and retrieve it.
Major Crimes digital forensic specialist testifies
Sergeant Melanie O'Rourke with Detroit Police conducts forensic analysis on cell phones and cell towers. Her expertise helps her pinpoint the location of cellular devices at certain times based on records provided by communication companies like T-Mobile and AT&T.
She was asked about several pieces of data that police asked her to extract and present from phone companies, including the time and location of a phone number associated with Jarvis Butts.
That included the moment his device was reported at the Parkcrest Motel in Harper Woods on Jan. 9 and then again in the area of 7 Mile and Berg on Jan. 10. Na'Ziyah Harris was last seen on Jan. 9 with Butts.
Clothing she is believed to have worn on Jan. 9 was later found in the 7 Mile and Berg area, O'Rourke told the court.
Two data points associated with Jarvis Butts' mobile device that Detroit Police recorded. The red dot, recorded the night of Jan. 10, is in the area where clothing believed to be Na'Ziyah Harris's was found.
Suspect's fiancé, border patrol agent testify
The prosecution's first witness is Tashiana Davis, who was engaged to Jarvis Butts in 2023.
She told the court she drove the defendant to the police on Feb. 7 to turn himself in. He was supposed to turn himself in on Jan. 9 for a weapons charge. She testified police seized his phone from her car.
When the defense asked Davis about how Butts was around his phone, she said he was very secretive. That was because he was talking to other women at the time.
However, Davis stayed with him because he was good with children, she told the court.
The next witness called on Tuesday was Wyatt Barnes, who works with the U.S. Border Patrol. He was searching for evidence in a missing person's case last year, canvassing the banks of the Rouge River near 7 Mile and Berg.
After finding a pink "onesie," he called his office and sent them coordinates after deeming it "worthy of reporting," he told the court.
He described his job as aging articles of clothing to determine if they're old or new. During last year's search, he found some old debris and clothing that looked new.
Case Background
Harris was 13 when she disappeared last January.
While Harris's body was never found, prosecutors charged Butts with murder and rape in September. He was also charged in connection with sexual assaults against two other victims as well.
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.
Missing Na'Ziyah Harris: Sister of the defendant, teen's family testify at preliminary hearing
The 13-year-old disappeared in January after family reported she never came home from school. Police later accused the man who was in a relationship with her aunt of murdering and abusing her.
First day of testimony
Numerous witnesses testified during the first day of the preliminary exam on Monday, including family members, school workers, and evidence techs.
Family members take stand
Witnesses called to testify Monday included Na'Ziyah Harris' grandmother Anette Harris, who talked about Jarvis Butts' coming to her home and the day the teenager went missing.
Shannon Harris, who was the victim's aunt, also testified. She has five children with Butts and spoke about instances where the suspect would pick Na'Ziyah Harris and take her to his job at an auto shop.
In addition to calling on Harris' family, Butts' sister also testified. Tijuana Butts said she was at her brother's auto shop on Jan. 9, 2024.
She left the auto shop around 6:30 p.m., telling prosecutors she observed "a little girl" getting in and out of a white Cadillac Escalade, believed to be Jarvis Butt's vehicle. Tijuana also identified some of the clothes found by the evidence technician as similar to what Harris was wearing that day.
Additionally, a woman who has a child with Butts testified that he borrowed her vehicle on the day Harris was last seen. She said that when her vehicle was returned, a pair of glasses were inside. Those glasses were similar to glasses Harris was seen wearing in photos.
School employee, police testify
Derek Wolfe, a police officer at Detroit Public Schools at the time Na'Ziyah Harris went missing, testified that he took a missing persons report on Jan. 10 after speaking to Harris' grandmother. He followed up with some students and canvassed some areas where the teenager would have gotten off the bus, as well as near the school.
Margaret Lovallo was called to the stand afterward. She previously worked as an evidence technician for the Detroit Police Department. She currently works for the Macomb County Medical Examiners Office.
She was tasked with helping the department at a scene found by officers near 7 Mile and Berg, just east of Telegraph Road.
Another witness with ties to Harris' school, JE Clark Preparatory Academy, also testified. Substitute Marilyn Lee said she taught Harris the day she was last seen and testified to not seeing the teenager the next day, despite regular visits during the week in school.
Na'Ziyah Harris disappearance timeline
The prosecutor's office provided a rough timeline of the day Harris disappeared.
- Na’Ziyah took the 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’ 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.
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."
He was bound over for trial in those two cases last November.