Jarvis Butts
Prosecutors say the plea deal with Jarvis Butts was meant to help bring closure to the family of Na’Ziyah Harris, whose body has still not been found. mdocweb.state.mi.us

Some measure of justice was served after child predator Jarvis Butts was sentenced to 35–60 years in prison for killing a 13-year-old girl, Na'Ziyah Harris, on Thursday, 12 March. However, the 43-year-old was facing other charges related to sexually assaulting children.

Aside from the Harris case, Butts was also sentenced to 10–15-year sentences for sexually assaulting other children. This will all run concurrently to the longer murder sentence. It was added that parole will only be possible after he has served 35 years behind bars, Fox 2 reported.

Further, part of Butts' guilty plea required him to provide a statement on the whereabouts of Harris' body. Jarvis complied with that requirement by providing a statement to authorities privately.

The statement by Butts was not released. But according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, they were satisfied with the information given by the sex offender, CBS News reported.

'We are satisfied with the statement he has given,' Worthy said.

Worthy added that the reason behind the deal was to give the family closure. And the most important thing of them all is finding the body of Na'Ziyah.

'One of the most important aspects of the plea agreement was giving Na'Ziyah's family some semblance of closure. The disclosure of the location of her body was crucial,' Worthy shared.

Na'Ziyah Last Sighting

It was on 9 January 2024 when Na'Ziyah was last seen. She was getting off a school bus at the time in the area of Cornwall and Three Mile Drive in Detroit.

Curiously, the sister of the suspect, Tijuana Butts, revealed this when she testified on 5 January 2025. She claimed that she saw Na'Ziyah getting out of Jarvis' truck at his auto shop on that same date that Harris got off the school bus, according to Click On Detroit. It remains unclear if the accounts are similar or connected.

'For the last two years, I have had to go back to that day when I saw a little girl I did not know, that I had never seen,' Butts said. 'I wish that there was a sign, but she looked OK and I believed she was someone else's niece,' she added.

Officially, Butts admitted to killing Na'Ziyah and allegedly dumping her body in the Rogue River near 7 Mile and Berg. Despite that claim, the body of Harris was never found.

Harrowing Details of Abuse

According to investigators, Butts started sexually abusing Harris in 2022. This included sending Na'Ziyah sexually explicit text messages and photos when the girl was only 11 years old.

Prosecutors added that there was evidence to believe that Harris was pregnant before she was killed. They added that Butts was also the father of the unborn child the teenager was carrying.

After likely being made aware of it, Butts allegedly looked for ways to abort the child. This included using abortion pills and drinking red antifreeze. However, it appears none of it worked, and it is possible that this contributed to pushing Butts to resort to murder.

At least five other girls, aged 4 to 13, also fell prey to Butts' sexually abusive ways. It was added that these crimes happened before the disappearance of Harris.

Currently at Wayne County Jail, Butts is set to be transferred to state prison, where he will be serving his sentence. However, the Na'Ziyah Harris case is a stark reminder to parents and families to do better at looking after their children and protecting them against monsters like Jarvis Butts.

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