WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – The man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a Detroit teen who went missing in January 2024 is expected to appear in court on Friday.
Jarvis Butts was charged with sexually assaulting and murdering 13-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris.
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Harris was reported missing on Jan. 9, 2024. She was never seen again, and her body has not been found.
Butts was bound over to circuit court in January 2025 and is scheduled for a jury trial on Feb. 23, 2026.
He was also charged in connection with a separate sexual assault case involving an 8-year-old relative in September.
--> Man accused of killing Na’Ziyah Harris appears in court on separate sexual assault case
Butts is expected to appear in court on Dec. 5, 2025, for a pretrial hearing on the charges related to Harris’ murder. Details of what will happen in the hearing are not known.
Here’s what we know about the Na’Ziyah Harris case:
Background
On Jan. 9, 2024, 13-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris got off the school bus in the area of Cornwall Street and 3 Mile, which is near the intersection of Warren Avenue and Outer Drive on Detroit’s east side. She was never seen again.
Na’Ziyah’s grandmother said she started getting concerned when she learned she didn’t get home that night, but she waited until the morning of Jan. 10 to report her missing to authorities.
On the same day Na’Ziyah went missing, Jarvis Butts was scheduled to turn himself to authorities on a gun charge. However, this was pushed back to February.
Butts was charged and appeared for a preliminary examination in January 2025, when a judge will determine whether there’s enough evidence to send the case to trial.
His preliminary hearing lasted days, and the judge determined there was enough evidence for the Detroit man to stand trial.
Why Jarvis Butts was charged
Prosecutors said Butts was supposed to turn himself into authorities on a gun charge on Jan. 9, 2024, the day Na’Ziyah went missing, but that date was pushed back to February. Harris allegedly met up with Butts that day, and the two reportedly went to Ypsilanti before returning back to Detroit, where Butts checked into a motel.
Text records allege that Butts knew Harris was pregnant and that he began searching online about abortions, abortion pills, and drinking red anti-freeze.
Authorities believe Butts had been sexually abusing Harris since 2022 before killing her in January 2024. Prosecutors said he had a history of targeting and befriending women to get close to and sexually abuse their daughters.
It’s not the only sexual abuse case Butts is involved with. He also has been charged for reportedly sexually abusing two other young girls, as well as a conviction for sexual assault in 2005. Prosecutors called Butts a “serial child rapist,” who sexually assaulted an 8-year-old family member and a girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter, who reportedly caught chlamydia from the assault.
He was charged on Sept. 27, 2024, as a habitual fourth-time offender.
Butts and Harris had reportedly known each other because he was the father of her cousins. The abuse of Harris allegedly began in 2022 with sexually explicit texts and photos being sent to the child.
He was tracked to the Rouge River in Detroit the day after her disappearance, where police would later recover the clothes Harris was last seen wearing. Authorities said there was damage to the clothing that could indicate a struggle.
Butts was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, child sexually abusive material, and second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13.
A preliminary examination was held on Jan. 6, 2025, for a judge to decide if there was enough evidence for Butts to head to trial. Within those four to five days of hearing testimonies, loads of evidence were revealed in court that weren’t shown before.
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