MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – The man accused of killing Ashley Elkins, his ex-girlfriend who went missing in early January, is expected to appear in court on Friday.
Deandre Booker has been 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.
His preliminary examination began on Wednesday, Aug. 6, and continued on Friday, Aug. 8.
It’s expected to continue again on Friday, Aug. 15, before Judge Joseph F. Boedeker in the 39th District Court in Roseville.
So far, Elkins’ mother, Monika Elkins, and multiple officers who worked on the case have been called to testify.
Booker refused to attend court on Friday, Aug. 8, and watched the hearing over Zoom. The judge checked back in with his defense attorney in the afternoon that day, who said Booker still declined to cooperate.
The prosecution is expected to call three more witnesses to testify during the hearing on Aug. 15.
You can click here to catch up on what happened during Day 1 of Booker’s preliminary examination.
To catch up on Day 2 of the hearing, read below:
Accused killer refuses to get dressed for court
Booker refused to get dressed for court on Friday and kept screaming when the Zoom feed he was watching the hearing on was unmuted.
This comes after he refused to sit down during the first day of his preliminary examination, which the prosecutor said he believed was done to try and intimidate the witnesses that were called to testify.
Items found in drain at ex-boyfriend’s apartment
On Friday, Roseville officer Munafo testified about finding multiple items inside the bathtub drain at Booker’s apartment during a search on Jan. 30.
A clump of hair was among the items found.
Read more --> The 3 items found in bathtub drain at ex-boyfriend’s apartment in Ashley Elkins murder case
Surveillance footage from day Elkins went missing
Roseville Detective Patrick Taylor testified about how he reviewed video surveillance footage from several cameras located at Booker’s apartment complex, along with cameras from complexes nearby and video captured by a neighbor’s Ring camera.
Video shows Elkins at ex-boyfriend’s apartment complex
One clip of the footage showed Elkins arriving at the apartment building at about 7:58 a.m. on Jan. 2 in her silver Chevrolet Malibu.
Video shows her getting out of the car and walking toward the apartment complex.
After that, a second video from 12:33 p.m. on Jan. 2 shows two people approaching Elkins’ car. Both of them go to the passenger side of the vehicle, and the man appears to look in the rear of the car before getting in the front passenger seat.
The woman gets in the driver’s seat, and they leave the parking lot in Elkins’ vehicle.
Officer finds blood in dumpster
Roseville Detective Chris Moran also testified Friday about some of the surveillance video footage and about searching the dumpsters near the apartment. He discovered blood in one of the dumpsters, according to his testimony.
Video shows man pushing shopping cart toward dumpster
There is also footage that shows a man pushing a full shopping cart toward a dumpster.
Moran said there appeared to be something in the cart covered by a white sheet, and when the man in the video stopped at the dumpster, he appeared to be struggling to put something in there.
“It was clear to me that the person putting whatever it was in that dumpster was struggling, which anyone who has had experience lifting a person it is difficult if they are limp to move them around,” said Moran. “It would take a lot of effort to get them out. It would be difficult, and it’s not surprising to see that it took that long if that in fact was going on.”
Moran also testified about Booker’s search history before his arrest, which included “telling god i want to kill someone (sic),” “9mm silencer roseville,” and “what happens to trash after its picked up (sic).”
Read --> ‘Telling God I want to kill someone’: The 9 Google searches from ex-boyfriend in Ashley Elkins case
The man in the video footage shown in court on Friday was wearing a black coat with a fur-trimmed hood, black pants, black shoes and a black beanie.
Prosecutors continued to ask about the clothing the man was wearing in the video footage, which matched the description of the clothing that was found when Booker was arrested.
Detectives learned that Booker may be at a home in Flint where a girlfriend or ex-girlfriend of his (not Elkins, a different person) lived, so they obtained a search warrant and went to the home.
The woman and Booker were there. Booker was arrested, and the woman was compliant with the investigation, according to testimony.
When they searched her home, they found a black coat, pants and shoes that matched the ones that were seen on the surveillance video.
There appeared to be spots of dried blood on the coat.
They also found a sales record for a pistol with Booker’s name on it inside the Flint house.
Background
After Elkins went missing, authorities searched the Pine Tree Acres Landfill in Lenox Township.
This is where trash from the dumpsters near Booker’s apartment gets taken to after it is dropped off at a collection center in Roseville.
Authorities looked through the landfill from Jan. 13 through Jan. 19, before the search was called off.
Elkins’ body has never been found.
Her car was found a few miles from her Booker’s apartment on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.
Booker was taken into custody in Flint on Jan. 8 and was initially charged with lying to police.
While in Flint, officials said Booker 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.
On Jan. 31, he was arraigned on the charges of premeditated murder, tampering with evidence, disinterment of a body and concealing the death of an individual in connection with Elkins’ murder.