Overview
- Michigan corrections officials said Thursday that Butts was pronounced dead at the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson, and authorities are investigating the death as a suicide.
- Prison staff tried to save his life before he was declared dead, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
- Butts pleaded guilty on Feb. 12 to resolve six cases and was sentenced on March 12 to 35 to 60 years for second-degree murder, with five sexual-assault terms of 10 to 15 years each to run at the same time.
- His plea required a truthful statement about where 13-year-old Na'Ziyah Harris's body could be found, yet her remains have not been recovered and details were not shared in open court.
- Local 4 reported, citing an unnamed source, that he said he dumped the body in the Rouge River near 7 Mile and Berg, a claim officials have not verified after earlier searches found clothing in that area.