Murder of Na’Ziyah Harris: Man charged in teen’s disappearance in court Friday

DETROIT (FOX 2) – The man accused of killing and sexually assaulting a teenager is expected in court Friday for a preliminary hearing. FOX 2 will stream the hearing in the live player above.

Jarvis Butts, 41, of Highland Park, was charged with the first-degree murder and first-degree assault of Na’Ziyah Harris in September, more than nine months after the teen went missing.

She was last seen getting off a bus at Cornwall and Three Mile in Detroit on January 9, but never made it home.

Although prosecutors believe the teen is no longer alive, they have not recovered her remains. However, they are convinced that Butts is behind her disappearance.

During his arraignment, he was also accused of sexually assaulting two other children, including his own daughter and the daughter of an ex-girlfriend.

“It’s disgusting, it’s despicable. It’s worse than I thought it was,” Jarnell Holland, a relative of Harris, said after the court hearing. “I’ve been trying to draw attention to him since 2022 and I didn’t know it was that bad.”

Timeline of Na’Ziyah Harris’ disappearance

The prosecutor’s office provided a rough timeline of the day Harris disappeared.

• Na’Ziyah took the school bus to school.
• She had her hair in two braided buns, clear rimmed glasses, a white sweater with a black jacket over it, a colorful Rugrats puffy jacket with a fur-lined hood, light blue jeans, and Nike shoes.
• There is a video of Na’Ziyah getting on the school bus.
• Na’Ziyah used a DPS-issued tablet with which she communicated and interacted with an app.
• She took one last photo of herself on the tablet.
• Using her tablet, she sent a message to a device linked to Butts, indicating that they would meet after she got home from school that day.
• There is a video of her coming home from school in the same clothes at the end of the day.
• She meets Butts and a co-worker and heads back to their car repair shop on Connor in Detroit.
• Na’Ziyah is seen by Butts’ sister in the store.
• Butts, the coworker, and Na’Ziyah were together in the coworker’s car when they went to Ypsilanti and then returned to the store on Connor. Butts’ phone places him in these locations.
• At 9:30 PM to 12:20 PM, Butts checked into a motel. There is a receipt confirming this, as well as his phone placing him in that location.
• Na’Ziyah is never seen again after January 9, 2024.