John Jefferson
Left: Jarvis Butts (Michigan Sex Offender Registry). Right: Na’Ziyah Harris (Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office).
Michigan authorities on Thursday announced the arrest of a 41-year-old man who they say murdered a 13-year-old girl after learning he impregnated her with his child.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said her office charged Jarvis Butts with first-degree murder, criminal sexual conduct in the second degree and possession of child sexually abusive material in the disappearance and suspected death of Na’Ziyah Harris in Detroit. Na’Ziyah’s grandmother reported her missing on Jan. 9 after she never came home from school. She was last seen getting off the school bus not far from her home on the city’s eastside.
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Detectives later learned she met up with Butts after school. Witnesses saw the pair together, Worthy said. Later that night, Butts checked into a local hotel room.
“Na’Ziyah was never seen or heard from again,” Worthy told reporters at a press conference. “Not from her family, not from her schoolmates, not from her friends, not from her social media where she was extremely active with her friends, not from her teachers, no one.”
Authorities in the ensuing months conducted a sprawling investigation into the girl’s disappearance by reviewing videos, interviewing witnesses and going through phone records. Although they have not found Na’Ziyah’s body, Worthy said they are confident she is dead. Her social media went dark, she never returned to school nor contacted any family or friends. She also missed what would have been her 14th birthday on Sept. 16.
The investigation unveiled Butts began grooming Na’Ziyah in 2022 and started sexually assaulting her shortly thereafter, according to Worthy. In the weeks leading up to her disappearance, Na’Ziyah learned she was pregnant and told Butts, the father, about it, cops said. He was seeking ways for her to have an abortion, Worthy said. There were also sexually explicit photos of her on his phone, per police.
“He knew she was pregnant. We know that he was also searching for ways to abort the baby,” Worthy said.
As detectives dug into Butts’ past, they learned that Butts had allegedly targeted other girls. Prosecutors also filed charges against Butts in cases involving two other girls who were under the age of 13. Authorities say Butts sexually abused a girl, now 20, between 2012 and 2014 and another girl, now 13, between 2015 and 2017. He’s charged with criminal sexual conduct in both cases.
“Based on all those cases we will present in court, Mr. Butts targeted and befriended women to have sexual relationships with their young daughters,” Worthy said. “He would have relationships with their mothers but his true desire was to have sex with their young daughters. He was a classic and expert groomer and pedophile. It’s incredibly sad, incredibly unspeakable and we want to bring justices to her and her family.”
Butts previously had children with Na’Ziyah’s aunt. He has been in jail since August on an unrelated charge. Records show he is a convicted sex offender after a conviction for criminal sexual conduct with a victim between the ages of 13 and 15. Butts is slated to be arraigned on the charges on Friday.
At the press conference, Worthy shared a selfie Na’Ziyah took not long before her disappearance. She’s smiling and waving hello to the camera.
“Little did she know that she was really saying goodbye,” Worthy said.
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