A Detroit man has pleaded guilty to the 2024 murder of 13-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris and the sexual assault of five other girls, bringing formal closure to one of Michigan’s most harrowing missing child cases. Jarvis Butts, 43, entered the guilty plea Thursday in Wayne Circuit Court, accepting a sentencing agreement of 35 to 60 years in prison for second-degree murder. The case represents a devastating failure of multiple systems designed to protect vulnerable children.
Butts, who was dating Harris’s aunt when he began the assault, initially faced first-degree murder and multiple sexual abuse charges that were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea. He simultaneously pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving five girls, ages 4 to 13.
The disappearance that sparked a community search
Na’Ziyah, a seventh-grader at J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy, vanished on January 9, 2024, after failing to return home from school. She was last seen exiting her school bus near Cornwell Street and Three Mile Drive on Detroit’s east side. Her disappearance triggered an extensive investigation and community search efforts lasting two years, though her remains have never been recovered.
Harris’s family had repeatedly reported concerns about Butts to local authorities and Child Protective Services. Relatives claimed they contacted CPS multiple times regarding suspected inappropriate behavior, but stated no protective action was taken. Harris’s great-aunt later expressed the family’s profound frustration, indicating that multiple institutions had fundamentally failed Na’Ziyah and that systemic breakdowns occurred at every level of protection.
Digital evidence and witness testimony
Text exchanges between Butts and Harris, beginning in March 2023, revealed manipulative grooming language. Messages indicated Butts pressuring Harris to commit exclusively to him and expressing persistent thoughts about her. Harris responded by referring to him affectionately and expressing that he represented her only trusted confidant.
Investigators discovered that Butts conducted multiple Google searches in early December 2023, seeking information about abortion pills, herbal remedies, and antifreeze toxicity. These searches occurred weeks before Harris’s disappearance and suggest premeditation regarding her suspected pregnancy.
A 9-year-old cousin testified that she witnessed Butts sexually assault Harris at his auto shop and that he attempted to engage her in sexual activity, which she refused.
Tracking the final hours
Phone records and witness testimony established the timeline of January 9, 2024. Butts’s auto shop partner testified that he and Butts picked up Harris from school. Police phone data showed Butts’s cellular location at his auto shop around 4 p.m. His sister testified she observed a girl wearing a “colorful” jacket exit his truck at the shop between 4:30 and 6 p.m.
Around 7 p.m., Butts’s phone located in Ypsilanti, where witness Talasha Moore testified that Butts arrived with Harris, introducing her as his niece. They returned to the auto shop and separated. According to Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Makepeace, this marked the last time anyone except Butts saw Harris alive.
Physical evidence and forensic findings
Between 11:40 p.m. on January 10 and 1:34 a.m. on January 11, Butts’s phone pinged near 7 Mile and Berg Road, where investigators discovered Harris’s school identification card. Extensive searches recovered a pink onesie, two Nike shoes, a black hoodie, gloves, and a towel.
Forensic analysis revealed both Harris’s and Butts’s DNA on the black hoodie. Blood samples were discovered on both the black hoodie and pink jumpsuit. Michigan State Police crime laboratory technician Erica Anderson testified the evidence provided “moderate support” for Butts’s DNA presence on bloodstains.
The judge’s assessment
During the January 2025 preliminary examination, Detroit’s 36th District Court Judge Aliyah Sabree characterized Butts as a dangerous predator and outlined the presumed sequence of events. The judge indicated that evidence suggested Butts attempted to induce an abortion through dangerous means, and when complications arose, he intentionally killed Harris rather than seek medical help, then attempted to conceal the crime.
Prior criminal history and sentencing
Butts previously served seven years in prison after pleading guilty to having sex with a child in 2004. He is scheduled for official sentencing on March 12, 2026, in Wayne Circuit Court. The sentencing agreement mandates between 35 and 60 years in prison.
The case has prompted renewed scrutiny of child protective services in Michigan and questions about offender monitoring in communities. Harris’s family will never recover their daughter’s remains for proper burial, leaving a permanent void in their closure process.
