Jarvis Butts was serving a 35‑ to 60‑year sentence in the killing of 13‑year‑old Na’Ziyah Harris. MDOC says his death is under investigation.
A man convicted of murder in the 2024 disappearance of a 13-year-old Detroit girl has died in prison from an apparent suicide, a Michigan Department of Corrections official confirmed.
Jarvis Butts, 43, was sentenced in March of this year to 35 to 60 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Na'Ziyah Harris, who was last seen getting off a school bus Jan. 9, 2024 in the area of Cornwall Street and Three Mile Drive on Detroit's east side, police have said.
At the time Butts was charged in the case, the girl's body had still not been found. A condition of his plea agreement was that he give truthful information about the location of her body.
“One of the most important aspects of the plea agreement was giving Na’Ziyah’s family some semblance of closure," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said after the sentencing. "The disclosure of the location of her body was crucial." The prosecutor's office was satisfied Butts gave truthful information, spokeswoman Maria Miller said March 26, but Detroit Police Department spokeswoman Jasmin Barmore said the girl's body has not yet been found. "We will continue our efforts in locating the body of 13-year-old Naziyah Harris," she said in a March 26 email.
Butts was also sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 10 to 15 years on five counts of criminal sexual conduct involving female victims between 4 and 13 years old, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said in a March 12 news release.
MDOC spokeswoman Jenni Riehle confirmed that Butts was found dead in his cell on the morning of March 26 at the Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center near Jackson. She said his death "is currently being reported as a suicide," but gave no other details.
"MDOC staff provided life-saving measures which were unsuccessful," she said. "The Michigan State Police have been called to the facility to investigate; the death is currently being reported as a suicide."
Egeler is where state prisoners are held for a time after sentencing before they are sent to another state prison to serve their time.
If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
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