Judge Rebukes Family of Missing Girl Na’Ziyah Harris: The Murder Case Against Her Aunt’s Boyfriend

Photo of Missing Detroit Girl Na’Ziyah Harris from TikTok.

At a preliminary hearing on January 16, 2025, Judge Sabree found there is enough evidence to charge Jarvis Butts with the murder of missing 13-year-old girl Na’Ziyah Harris, who was last seen January 7, 2024 in Detroit, getting off a school bus.

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Although it seems the wheels of justice are beginning to turn, it’s vital to ask why Children’s Protective Services did nothing when notified of potential sexual abuse regarding Na’Ziyah Harris and if their non-action speaks to the broader issue of agencies like these being ineffective in their duties to protect children, primarily young girls.

What Happened

Speaking with FOX 2 News in Detroit, two family members of Na’Ziyah Harris said they had gone to Children’s Protective Services to report suspected abuse. “Trish” and “Vanessa”, whose real names were withheld, recounted their efforts to get the agency involved. She and Trish called a total of “7 to 10 times over the course of the last eight months, eight months to a year,” Vanessa said in February 2024, over a month after Na’Ziyah went missing.

However, Na’Ziyah and her brother remained in the home but under the care of their grandmother, according to Vanessa and Trish. Their efforts to protect Na’Ziyah had gone unheeded. From what they said, it appears they did everything they could. The system failed Na’Ziyah.

FOX News inquired about the safety of Na’Ziyah. “I think there’s something going on there’s so many different scenarios,” Trish said. “Because there’s so much dysfunction from multiple members in the family.”

Premeditated Murder and Rape Charges

Since then, Jarvis Butts has been charged with premeditated murder and rape in Na’Ziyah’s disappearance. Her body has still not been found. Butts was the boyfriend of Shannon Harris, the aunt of Na’Ziyah Harris, with whom he has 5 children. Court records show that a search warrant executed against his devices revealed inappropriate texts between him and Na’Ziyah dating back to 2022, when she was just 11 or 12 years old. Many of the texts were sexual in nature.

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Na’Ziyah’s 8-year-old cousin testified in court at the preliminary hearing that Butts had taken her and Na’Ziyah to an auto shop where he worked and that he had abused Na’Ziyah on both occasions sometime in 2022. In September of 2023, prosecutors said Na’Ziyah texted Butts that she had missed her period. Butts apparently went into a panic.

According to News Nation Now, a prosecutor said Butts’ phone records reveal online searches including “abortions, abortion pills, and drinking red antifreeze.” This shows his state of mind and that keeping the child he had impregnated Na’Ziyah with wasn’t his intention. Furthermore, considering the age of the victim, Butts was facing significant jail time. Any attempts at an abortion didn’t work out, and by January 9, 2024, on the day Na’Ziyah Harris went missing, there was no reason to believe that she was not still pregnant. Several events led to Butts’s being charged a year later.

ClickonDetroit.com reports, “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.” This site also notes that “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.”

Evidence Against Jarvis Butts

In addition to phone records, investigators recovered Na’Ziyah’s clothing. ClickonDetroit.com reports, “An inside-out pink jumpsuit, a black jacket and a red and black shoe were found near the intersection of 7 Mile and Berg by a U.S. Border Patrol officer who testified he and a team were searching the river near the intersection in relation to Na’Ziyah’s disappearance.”

A woman who testified at the preliminary hearing on January 7, 2025, said she had stepped over an ID for two and a half weeks before deciding to pick it up. She was shocked to see it belonged to the missing girl Na’Ziyah Harris. The ID had been facedown near a bus stop. The woman recognized the name from hearing it on the news. In a smart move to preserve evidence, she took the bus to a gas station and put it on a lid to prevent any further fingerprints from smearing onto it. From there, she called the police.

The Judge Rebukes the Family

The following are some of the remarks Judge Sabre made in relation to Na’Ziyah when finding probable cause against Jeremy Butts:

“I don’t know where her mother is,” Judge Sabree said. “I don’t know anything other than she was forced to live in a home where she was not protected or given adequate attention and love.”

“I don’t know who her father is; I don’t have any mention of him in her life—no presence.”

“All the men who saw Jarvis Butts hanging out and always around these young girls, including Na’Ziyah and his 9-year-old daughter, going up to the shop to clean up.”

“The school counselor who never showed up—or the person who was supposed to show up-if that counsel was absent after Na’Ziyah was on the floor on the day she went missing, saying she needed to speak to someone and speak to the counselor.”

“Always sending those girls to the shop raises questions,” the judge said in relation to the grandmother’s testimony.

“How were there two women in that house, whohad birthed children themselves, who did not notice Na’Ziyah was pregnant-and I believe she was—and not having her period anymore?” the judge asked.

“I don’t know who else failed Na’Ziyah, but the community did,” the judge said.

Furthermore, the judge wondered where CPS was in this all. She noted there was no mention of them. As previously noted, the aunts of Na’Ziyah Harris said they went to CPS, and nothing happened. The judge’s rebuke of the family is heavy in this time of mourning and comes off as ill-informed and apathetic. The judge should apologize to the family.

Other News: Read about the BALTIMORE MOM who she says she killed her daughter for “having sexual relations with the father of her other three children.”

As the judge notes, there’s a lot she doesn’t know in Na’Ziyah’s case. To argue Na’Ziyah had no love or was shown no love is to ignore the aunts who tried. They said they reported numerous times. CPS seemingly failed, and would not be an unusual occurrence. This is one of many that has been publicized, but there are many more instances — past and active — where a government agency failed the very child it was designed to protect. Just like CPS, the judge didn’t acknowledge the efforts of the aunts. Maybe hiring practices, training and professional development should be focused on more to prevent this from happening again. Otherwise, the only outcome is that a family gets berated in their most vulnerable moment by the courts. We don’t know Na’Ziyah’s life. But to call her “unloved” is to do a disservice to her memory. She deserves something greater.

The Takeaway

Probable cause has been found against Jarvis Butts in the disappearance of Na’Ziyah Harris, and he’d had an inappropriate relationship with her. He was the boyfriend of her aunt and should have been a protector of Na’Ziyah. He was the opposite. Seemingly, when he impregnated her, he panicked, plotted and took her life. According to police, he’s a repeat offender, and his record says that he never should have been in the presence of any children. Na’Ziyah’s aunt’s calls to CPS went ignored. Judge Sabree was hypercritical of the family, without knowing all the facts and efforts. The judge should apologize for her comments about the family. What happened to Na’Ziyah is tragic, and hopefully she and her family get the justice she deserves.

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This article was written by Jermaine Reed, MFA, the Editor-in-Chief of The Reeders Block, who also works an Adjunct College Professor. Join the email list to get notifications on new articles and books. This article is 100% human-written. And remember, if you see an error, that’s what makes us human. Subscribe and share.