Nine months have passed since 13-year-old Harris was last seen. Detroit police arrested a suspect in connection with her disappearance, but the details of what else he allegedly did to her makes the case even more disturbing.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Harris, a seventh grader at J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy, was last seen getting off her bus on Jan 9. on the eastside of Detroit, per a press conference Thursday. The only clues as to where she vanished stemmed from text messages between her and 41-year-old Jarvis Butts, a man who had relations with her aunt. Prosecutors said messages suggest when Na’Ziyah got off the bus, she met Butts at his auto repair shop.
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One of Butts’ coworkers drove him and the girl to Ypsilanti, on the outskirts of the city, and returned back to the shop, prosecutors said. However, that night, Butts checked into a hotel by himself and Harris stopped answering text messages.
The next day, the girl was reported missing and Butts was seen wandering the area where her clothes were eventually found, prosecutors said. The investigation into what happened to her relied heavily on Butts’ previous correspondences with her.
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Butts allegedly exploited, molested and sexually abused Na’Ziyah, who was pregnant with his child at the time of her death, Worthy said. Butts sent Na’Ziyah sexually explicit texts beginning in September 2022, and she sent him sexual photos of herself as well, according to the prosecutor’s office.
She texted Butts in September 2023 that she had not had her period, and evidence allegedly shows that Butts knew of her pregnancy in November 2023.
“His phone records show that he searches online about abortions, abortion pills, and drinking red anti-freeze,” according to a Wayne County Prosecutor’s office press release.
Worthy said Thursday the evidence heavily suggests Harris is deceased. The prosecutor’s office hit Butts with charges of first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and child sexually abusive material in connection to the disappearance and alleged murder.
That’s not all: Prosecutors claim Harris was the latest of Butts’ victims as a result of his scheme to befriend women to gain access to their young daughters and have sexual contact with them. On these allegations, Butts faces additional sexual assault charges involving two victims who were both under the age of 13 at the time of the incident, prosecutors said.
Harris turns 14 this month.
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