Na'Ziyah Harris murder suspect in court for hearing, no trial decision yet

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Jarvis Butts, the man accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old Na'Ziyah Harris and then killing her when she got pregnant, returned to court on Friday for the beginning of his preliminary hearing.

Butts, 41, appeared in court on Friday for his preliminary hearing but a decision on the trial wasn't set yet, despite several hours of testimony – much of which was graphic and involved sex crimes against children.

Harris was last seen getting off a bus at Cornwall and Three Mile in Detroit on Jan. 9, but never made it home. Her body has never been found and Butts was ultimately charged with killing her.

NaZiyah Harris on the day she disappeared

Cordell Wright, a former co-worker of Butts, testified that the two were together and Butts introduced Harris as his niece.

Wright also testified that he left Butts and Harris at the auto shop where they worked that night. The next day, he said Butts didn't come to work.

Prosecutors claim Butts had gotten the 13-year-old pregnant and then killed her - there was additional testimony from minors that he molested other children.

During his arraignment, he was also charged in the sexual assault of two other children, including his own daughter and the daughter of an ex-girlfriend. 

Prosecutors also played a recording Butts made from behind bars when he called Wright and asked him to contact the mother of his children, Na'ziyah's aunt, to retrieve his phone.

"I need you to call her and get my truck up there and get my phone out that backseat brother," Butts said in the recorded call.

Wright testified he looked for the phone but couldn't find it. Prosecutors say the information on that phone will help prove their case, saying Butts groomed Harris, had sex with her, and searched for ways to abort the unborn baby.

Butts will return to court in January for the continuation of his hearing.

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.

A previous version of this story indicated Butts was bound over for trial. His trial has not yet been set.