DETROIT (Court TV) — Two weeks after he was sentenced for murdering a teenager and sexually abusing others, a Detroit man was found dead in prison.
Jarvis Butts is seen in a booking photo. (Michigan Department of Corrections)
Jarvis Butts was sentenced to 35-60 years on March 12 after previously pleading guilty to the second-degree murder of 13-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris and criminal sexual contact with other victims. Prosecutors had said that Butts murdered the teenager after finding out she was pregnant with his child.
Butts was silent at his sentencing hearing, which saw Na’Ziyah’s grandmother break down in tears on the stand and two other women removed from the courtroom after shouts were heard.
“Justice will never be served,” Na’Ziyah’s aunt, Marketta Harris, said at the sentencing hearing. “You’re still able to live, you’re still able to get healthcare. You’re still able to breathe without any remorse.”
While the Michigan Department of Corrections still shows Butts as being in custody at the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center, a representative for Michigan’s Department of Corrections confirmed to Court TV that Butts was pronounced dead on March 26, exactly two weeks after his sentencing. “MDOC provided life-saving measures which were unsuccessful,” the spokesperson said. The Michigan State Police have been called in to investigate the death, which is currently being considered a suicide.
