DETROIT – A trial date has been set for the man accused of murdering a well-known Detroit doctor.
Third Circuit Court Judge Paul John Cusick scheduled the jury trial for Desmond Burks to begin on Jan. 5, 2026, according to court records.
The date was set during a hearing on Thursday, July 3.
Burks is accused of killing Hoover, who was found dead at his home in the Boston-Edison Historic District on Sunday, April 23, 2023.
Hoover worked as a neurosurgeon at Ascension Hospital in Detroit at the time of his death.
Burks was bound over to stand trial on all charges after a four-day preliminary examination. He is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, larceny- $20,000 or more, using a computer to commit a crime, possession of a firearm by a felon and three counts of felony firearm.
During the preliminary examination, 36th District Court Judge Shawn K. Jacque heard testimony from several witnesses, some of whom were granted immunity for their testimony.
One witness testified about how he helped Burks get rid of evidence, including Hoover’s surgical glasses, clothes, and a 9mm gun. Another witness, who used the doctor’s credit card to make purchases after he had been murdered, said Burks admitted to knowing Hoover.
The prosecution argued that evidence showed Burks had killed Hoover, put his body in the attic of the doctor’s house, stolen thousands of dollars from Burks, and then tried to conceal the evidence.
During final arguments, the prosecution also argued that Burks might have been jealous after Hoover suggested introducing other partners into their sexual relationship.
The defense claimed there is no direct evidence that Burks caused the death of Hoover and said that being angry or upset doesn’t mean that something was premeditated.
Burks’ attorney also argued that we only saw texts about Hoover being interested in inviting another person over on the day of his death, and we don’t know if the doctor sent text messages to other people on that day or if another third party had ever shown up.
However, the judge determined there was enough evidence for Burks to stand trial on all charges. Burks was also bound over in his second-degree murder case that involves an unrelated road rage attack.
What happened during the hearing
Burks’ preliminary examination lasted four days, and we had live updates throughout the entire proceedings.
If you’d like to catch up on all the witness testimony and evidence that was presented this week in court, here are our daily recaps:
Background information
For a full breakdown of everything we learned from the day Hoover’s SUV was found abandoned, up until his preliminary examination, check out this article:
--> Man charged in well-known Detroit doctor’s murder to appear in court. Here’s everything we know