Convicted Murderer Jarvis Butts Dies in Michigan Prison

On the morning of March 26, 2026, Jarvis Butts, a 43-year-old convicted murderer and sex offender, was found dead in his cell at the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson, Michigan. State corrections officials described the death as an apparent suicide, with Michigan State Police investigating the circumstances after prison staff attempted lifesaving measures that proved unsuccessful.

Butts had been sentenced just two weeks earlier, on March 12, to 35 to 60 years in prison for second-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old NaZiyah Harris. He also received concurrent sentences of 10 to 15 years each for five counts of criminal sexual conduct involving girls aged 4 to 13. The pleas, entered in February 2026 across six cases, avoided a trial and included Butts providing information about Harris's body, though her remains have never been recovered.

Harris, a seventh grader at J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy in Detroit, disappeared on January 9, 2024, after stepping off her school bus near Cornwell Street and Three Mile Drive on the city's east side. Prosecutors said she met Butts, who was dating her aunt and had children with her, at his auto repair shop that...