‘Where is Na’Ziyah’s body?': Here's what Jarvis Butts admitted before his murder sentencing and prison death
Jarvis Butts, the man convicted of murdering a 13-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris and sexually assaulting minors, died in prison. He was 43 years old. The Michigan Department of Corrections confirmed that Butts died Thursday morning at the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jacksonm, further adding that his cause of death is being investigated as a suicide. The Michigan State Police were called at the scene at about 6:45 AM local time.
“MDOC staff provided life-saving measures which were unsuccessful. The Michigan State Police have been called to the facility to investigate; the death is currently being reported as a suicide,” officials said in a statement.
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Only earlier this month, Butts was sentenced to 35 to 50 years in prison. He had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The 43-year-old also received multiple sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years for sexual assault charges involving children.
‘Where is Na’Ziyah Harris’s’ body?’
However, Harris’s body has not been recovered in years. With Jarvis Butts’ death, the investigation takes a massive hit. She was last seen getting off her school bus at the corner of Cornwall and Three Mile Drive in Detroit on January 9, 2024. Butts was dating her aunt back then. He was accused of sending sexually explicit messages in 2022, and having an inappropriate relationship with the teen, who was pregnant at the time of her death.
In her testimony, the aunt, Shannon, said that she did not suspect anything beyond an uncle-niece relationship between Butts and Na’Ziyah.
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Late-night activity near search site
Investigators focused heavily on cell phone data placing Jarvis Butts near a key search location hours after Na’Ziyah Harris disappeared.
Records showed activity between 11:40 PM on January 10 and 1:30 AM on January 11 near Seven Mile and Berg roads, the same area where authorities later searched for the teen’s body. While her remains were never found, crews recovered items including a jacket, a pink onesie and black Nike shoes matching witness descriptions.
“We were responding to a missing person,” border patrol agent Wyatt Barnes told the court “I was searching the river bank of River Rouge. We were searching south along the bank. I was on the east side of the bank in the Seven Mile and Berg area.”
Earlier movements tracked across locations
A phone forensics expert reconstructed Butts’ movements over a roughly 36-hour window using cell tower mapping and data analysis.
According to testimony, Butts’ phone was located at his shop on Conners Street shortly after 4 PM on January 9, 2024. Data then showed movement toward Ypsilanti before 7:30 PM.
Return to Detroit and hotel link
The analysis indicated the phone returned near his shop between 8:22 PM and 9 PM later that evening. Additional data placed the device near the Parkcrest Inn in Harper Woods. Witnesses had earlier testified that Butts allegedly took women to that location.
Butts, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February 2026, admitted to dumping Na’Ziyah’s body in the Rouge River area near Seven Mile and Berg roads in Detroit.
However, her body has not been found yet.