MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – The ex-boyfriend of Ashley Elkins, the Macomb County mother who went missing in January, appeared in court on Wednesday.
Deandre Howard Booker, of Roseville, was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, tampering with evidence, disinterment or mutilation of a dead body and concealing the death of an individual in connection with the murder of Elkins.
He appeared before Judge Joseph F. Boedeker in the 39th District Court for his preliminary examination on Aug. 6, 2025.
Here’s what happened during the hearing:
Booker stands for entire hearing
As the hearing began, the prosecution inquired whether Booker would remain standing throughout.
The judge said before the hearing he was told that Booker didn’t want to sit.
He asked Booker if he wanted to stand the whole time or if he would rather sit down, but Booker didn’t answer the question and stayed standing.
The prosecution objected to Booker standing the entire time and said he believed the action was an attempt to intimidate the witnesses and wanted to place his objection on the record.
Despite this, Booker remained standing for the duration of the hearing on Wednesday.
Four people were called to testify, including Monika Elkins, Ashley Elkins’ mother, a Warren police officer and a Roseville officer. The judge asked that the other witness who testified not be identified.
Ashley Elkins’ mom testifies
Monika testified about the last time she had physically seen her daughter, which she said was over FaceTime after midnight on Jan. 1, 2025. They were wishing each other a Happy New Year. She also talked to her on the phone later in the morning that day.
Monika said that she became worried on Jan. 2 when she hadn’t heard from Ashley.
She said that at about 9:06 a.m. on Jan.2, she texted Ashley about a dream she had, and Ashley’s response was “Aw, man.”
Monika thought that response was odd, and called her daughter, but she didn’t pick up.
The mother also said she went over to Booker’s Roseville apartment on Jan. 3 and rang the bell, but no one answered. Eventually, a neighbor let her and others in, and they went upstairs to Booker’s apartment. They knocked and the door opened.
They walked through the apartment to check for Ashley. One of the others took a phone from the apartment and gave it to the Warren Police Department.
She also explained that Booker was Ashley’s ex-boyfriend and they had been separated since around September 2024.
Officer finds blood in Booker’s apartment
Roseville Officer Shane Nabozny testified about responding to Booker’s apartment. He said he went there after dispatch received a call from someone who claimed to be Booker.
When he initially walked through on Jan. 4, he said the door was partially open. Inside, he found drops of blood on the bathtub, the vanity and the walls. Testing on the blood later revealed that it belonged to Elkins.
The officer said there was a bottle of bleach in the bathroom, and the drain cover was placed in the center of the tub, which was suspicious to him. He also said the bathroom walls looked like they had recently been wiped down and cleaned.
He also used tweezers to retrieve something that was found in the bathtub drain, but didn’t specifically say what it was. Blood was also found smeared on the walls in the hallway.
The officer said they found a box of hefty black garbage bags and another type of lavender-colored bags. He said the box of hefty garbage bags was new, and the only place they found a black bag was in the garbage near the kitchen. The bag was fresh, and no trash had been put inside it yet, according to the officer.
They also found a men’s coat and yellow dish gloves on the couch.
Next court hearing
Booker’s preliminary examination is expected to resume on Friday, Aug. 8.
Previous Coverage -- Background on case
Elkins was last seen leaving her home in Warren on Jan. 2, 2025. Cellphone data also placed her at Booker’s apartment in Roseville.
Police said they found clues in a dumpster at Booker’s apartment that indicated that she had been killed. That led authorities to the Pine Tree Acres Landfill in Lenox Township.
They looked through the landfill from Jan. 13 through Jan. 19, before the search was called off. Authorities found “lookalike items” that could belong to the mother of two, but said further lab testing was necessary.
This was the same landfill where Detroit police spent weeks searching for the body of Zion Foster in 2022. Her body was never found, but her cousin was convicted in her death.
Booker was taken into custody in Flint and was initially charged with lying to police.
Officials said while Booker was in Flint, he looked up information online about the fastest routes from Flint to Ohio, what to do on the run, if blood is traceable, how to beat a polygraph, and how to delete Google search history.