Groomed in Plain Sight: The Case of Na'Ziyah Harris

💔 Na'Ziyah Harris was only 13 years old.

She loved dancing, making TikToks, and keeping up with the latest trends. She should have been worried about school, friends, and being a kid—not becoming the victim of years of grooming.

In this episode of Black, Brown, & Unsolved, we examine Na'Ziyah's disappearance, the investigation that followed, the courtroom testimony, the evidence presented by prosecutors, the plea agreement that left many with unanswered questions, and the heartbreaking reality that Na'Ziyah has still not been brought home.

But this episode is about more than one case.

It's about grooming.

It's about recognizing warning signs.

It's about accountability.

It's about the adults who failed to protect a child.

And it's about asking the difficult questions that still deserve answers.

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of child grooming, child sexual abuse, violence, and homicide. Listener discretion is strongly advised.

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Follow for additional case content, timelines, court documents, photos, behind-the-scenes research, and announcements about future TikTok Lives and YouTube discussions.

📚 Research Methodology

This episode was researched using official Wayne County Prosecutor's Office press releases and court filings, preliminary examination testimony, court hearings and publicly available courtroom video, official plea and sentencing documents, reporting from multiple Detroit-area news organizations, and original research conducted by Black, Brown, & Unsolved, including hours of reviewing court proceedings, publicly available interviews, videos, and official case documents.

Every effort has been made to present this case as accurately and responsibly as possible using publicly available information available at the time of publication.

🩵 Need Help?

If you or someone you know is experiencing grooming, abuse, or exploitation, tell a trusted adult.

You can also contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline by calling or texting 1-800-422-4453. Help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911 immediately.

🖤 Black, Brown, & Unsolved is dedicated to amplifying the stories of Black, Brown, and Indigenous victims through compassionate storytelling, thorough research, and a commitment to truth—because every victim deserves to be remembered.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Before we get into today's case, I want to talk to y'all for just a minute. First of all, welcome back. Oh my goodness. It's been a little over five months since I released an episode of Black Brown and Unsolved. And if you've been here since the beginning, thank you. Thank you for your patience, your messages, your prayers, and for continuing to check on me and this podcast while I was away. It truly means more than you know. Y'all, life happened. Over the last few months, my son underwent a major surgery, and as a mom, that's exactly where I needed to be. At the same time, I've been working behind the scenes on expanding black, brown, and unsolved in ways I once only prayed about. But can I be honest with y'all? Sometimes as creators, we put so much pressure on ourselves to make everything perfect that we end up delaying the very thing we were called to do. And somewhere along the way, that became me. I kept telling myself, let me fix this one more thing, let me add one more detail, let me make this episode just a little bit better. And before I knew it, over five months had passed. So today I'm making a different choice. I'm choosing progress over perfection because silence doesn't help these families. Stories do. These families are depending on me. I've heard them in my absence, telling me, hey, where are you? We need you. And they deserve to be heard. And y'all deserve consistency. Now, while I've been away, God has been opening some incredible doors. I'm excited to share that Black Brown and Unsolved is expanding to YouTube with a brand new actor show called Black Brown and Unsolved The Reality T-E-A. That's where we'll sit down together and continue the conversation. We'll talk updates, discuss the conversation surrounding these cases, and yes, I'll share my personal theories and why I feel the way I do. It's a chance for us to go beyond the podcast and really unpack the cases together. Now, I'm not announcing a premiere date just yet because filming and producing YouTube is a completely different world, and I want to do it well. But trust me, it's coming. And when it's ready, y'all will be the first to know. For now, I am excited to say this. Black Brandon Unsoft is back, and you can expect new episodes every Wednesday. To everyone listening locally, across the country and around the world, thank you for continuing to believe in this podcast, for believing in me, and for caring about these families and these cases as much as I do. I don't take your support lightly, so welcome back and let's get into today's case. Imagine this: you're 13 years old. It's just another Tuesday. School is over, you step off the bus. You're not walking toward a stranger. You're walking towards someone you know, someone who's been around, someone the adults in your life know, someone they allowed into your world. At 13 years old, you trust the people the adults around you trust. You don't know that you've been groomed for years. You don't know that what feels normal isn't normal at all. And you don't know that the decisions adults made long before this Tuesday have already changed the course of your life because children don't create access. Adults do. Welcome back to Blackburn and Unsolved. I'm your host, Amberly, and today we're walking through the case of 13 year old Nazaya Harris. Let's get into it. Actually, it's quite the opposite. I knew I needed to cover it. But this wasn't just one of those cases that I could read a couple of articles about, hit record, and call it a day. Now, y'all know I don't do that anyways, but in no shade to the podcasters who do. But this case deserved more than that. And honestly, Nazaiah deserved more than that. If you've been with me for a while, then you already know y'all have been asking me to cover this case for months. I've seen your comments, I've seen your messages, I've seen y'all tagging me every single time there was an update, and every time I'd say I'm getting to it. Well, today's the day. Now, I do want to prepare you for something because this episode is going to feel a little different. Not because I'm changing who I am, but because I want to do something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I don't want to just tell you about a case. I want to walk through it with you. That means there are going to be moments where I pause and say, wait a minute. There are going to be moments where I circle back to something I told you 20 minutes earlier because now it means something different. There are going to be moments where I ask questions that I genuinely don't have the answers to. Not because I'm looking for a reaction, but because they're the same questions I found myself asking while I was working through this case. And one thing I need y'all to hear before we go any further, throughout this episode, you're going to hear me hold adults accountable. That's intentional because one thing I refuse to do is place responsibility on a 13-year-old little girl. Again, children don't create access, adults do. As we walk through this case together, I'm going to separate what's been established in court, what's supported by the investigation, and where I still have questions. And trust me, by the end of this episode, I think you'll understand why. So let's meet Nazaia Harris. So before we talk about what happened to Nazaia, I want to make sure we first talk about who she was. Because before she became the center of a criminal investigation, she was a little girl. Nazaia Harris was 13 years old and attended J. E. Clark Preparatory Academy in Detroit. She was described as bright, intelligent, and a student who enjoyed learning. She did well in school and had her whole future ahead of her. Outside of the classroom, though, Nazea was just like so many other girls her age. She loved to dance, she loved making TikToks. I've scrubbed her social media. I've found every video of her that I can find, and she had the biggest, brightest smile. You can tell she loved TikTok, loved making dances. She enjoys social media, learning the latest dances, following trends, and posting videos with her friends. She's a teenager. That's what they love. She was the kind of teenager who should have been worrying about homework, what she was wearing to school the next day, and what TikTok trends she wanted to try next. Instead, today we're telling her story. Nazaia's family looked a little different than some, but families come in all shapes and sizes. When Nazaia was about two years old, her biological mother and father were said to have been on drugs really bad, and so they did relinquish custody. Her grandmother, Annette Harris, stepped in to raise her, provide her with love, stability, and care every child deserves. Then in 2016, Annette officially adopted Nazaia, becoming not only her grandmother, but also her legal mother. Also living in the home was Nazaia's aunt, Shannon, and Shannon's five children. That was the home Nazaia knew. Again, her biological father wasn't raising her either, and I will tell you guys this prematurely after Nazaia disappeared. He did search for answers alongside those who loved her, but tragically, he passed away in 2024 before charges were ever filed against the man responsible for what happens in this case. Understanding Nazai's family structure is important because it does help explain the relationships that become central to this case. And as the story unfolds, you'll definitely understand why. So let's talk about January 9th, 2024. Okay, so it's Tuesday, January 9th, 2024. And for Nazaia, the day began like so many others. She got up, she got ready for school, she attended her classes. There was nothing about that morning that suggested this day would be remembered differently from any other Tuesday. When the school day came to an end, Nazai boarded the bus to head home. At some point that afternoon, the bus arrived at her usual stop. She stepped off. Surveillance cameras captured her walking away. So of course I saw the footage, and if anyone had been watching the footage that day, there would have been nothing that immediately stood out. No panic, no obvious distress, nothing that would have made you stop and think something is wrong. It looked like what happens in neighborhoods across this country every single afternoon. A student gets off the bus and starts walking, that's it. As the afternoon turned into evening, Nazai didn't make it home. At first, maybe that didn't immediately raise alarms. Maybe people thought she'd show up. Maybe they thought she'd call. Maybe they thought there was an explanation. But as time continued to pass, it became clear something wasn't right. And from there, everything started to change. Let's walk through what happened next. So we know Nazaia went missing on January 9th. Well, she was reported missing on January 10th, 2024. And yes, you heard me correctly. 13-year-old Nazai disappeared on January 9th, and she wasn't reported missing until January 10th. I'll be honest with y'all, that bothered me. It bothered me while I was researching this case, and it still bothers me now because I kept coming back to the same question. Why? Like as a parent, I'm paying attention before my children are even supposed to walk through the front door. If I know it's getting close to the time they're supposed to be home, I'm checking their location. I'm making sure they're headed in the right direction. I'm sending a text, I'm calling, I'm paying attention. So naturally, what I realized Nazaia wasn't reported missing until the following day, I started asking questions. Was this completely out of character? Or had there been other times when she hadn't come home right away? I don't know. And I'm not going to pretend that I do. But it's one of the biggest questions I wrote down while working through this timeline. Here's something else I learned. The missing person report wasn't initially made to the Detroit Police Department. Instead, it was made to the Detroit Public Schools Community District Department of Public Safety. Yeah, that was a lot. And I want to pause right there because I know I have listeners all over the country and all over the world. If you're not from Michigan, I'm not either. And that's an important distinction because those are two completely different agencies with different responsibilities. As we continue walking through this case, you'll hear testimony from the investigator who initially received the report through the school district police department. Then, weeks later, the case was transferred to the Detroit Police Department. And from that point on, the investigation began taking a very different shape. So let's start walking through that investigation. Investigators began doing what investigators do. They started rebuilding a timeline. They looked at surveillance footage, they reviewed phone records, they conducted interviews, they collected digital evidence, they started asking one question after another. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I found myself doing the exact same thing. One of the first witnesses I paid close attention to was the investigator with the Detroit Public Schools Community District Department of Public Safety. Again, that's a lot to say. But remember, this is the school district's police department, the agency that initially received Nazai's missing person report. As I listened to his testimony, I was frustrated. I realized he wasn't working with the same information Detroit police would eventually have. According to his testimony, he received the case just before his retirement. He also testified that he was led to believe Nazia had run away. And I'll be honest, when I first started researching this case, I was frustrated by how the early days of the investigation unfolded. But after sitting through his testimony, I walked away looking at it a little differently. He could only begin with the information he was given. If the information he received suggested that Nazaya had run away, then naturally that's where his investigation started. Does that answer every question I have? No, not even close. But it did shift my focus. Instead of asking only what the investigator did, I started asking who created the narrative that Nazaya has simply run away in the first place. He could only begin with the information he was given, but I also want to say this. He even stated himself that he did not check Nazai's locker. That's one of the most basic investigative steps that should have been done. I don't want to call him out here, but yeah, glad you retired, dude. So yeah, if the information he received suggested that Nazai had run away, then naturally that's where his investigation started. Annette told this resource officer that she believed Nazia had run away. In one of Annette's early interviews, she also alluded to the same thing that Nazi had run away. But whether we realized it or not, the information investigators received during those first few hours can shape everything that follows. And as Detroit police kept pulling at the threads, the timeline became clearer and one name kept surfacing, Jarvis Butts. And let's talk about who Jarvis was. Okay, so do y'all remember earlier when I told y'all that Nazi lived with her legal guardian and grandmother Annette Harris? I also told y'all she lived in the home with her aunt Shannon and Shannon's five children. Well, Jarvis was the father of Shannon's five children. He wasn't a stranger. He wasn't someone investigators uncovered through a random tip or an anonymous lead. He was already a part of this family's everyday life. That meant he had access to the home, he had access to Shannon, and because of that, he had access to Nazaia. And I want to stop right there for a second because I keep coming back to something I said at the beginning of this episode, and I've already said it more than one time. Children don't create access, adults do. Nazai didn't wake up one day and decide to form a relationship with the 41-year-old man. The adults around her created an environment where that access existed. According to the evidence in this case, Jarvis was around the family on a regular basis. There were also occasions where Nazai would go with him to the auto repair shop where he worked. And that's another moment where I stopped and wrote myself a note. Because I couldn't help but ask, why? Why was a 13-year-old little girl spending time at an auto repair shop with grown men? Maybe there was an explanation. Maybe there wasn't. But it's one of the many questions I wrote down while researching this case. As investigators continued looking into Jarvis, they began requesting electronic devices and reviewing digital evidence. And that's when this investigation took another major turn. So as investigators continued looking into Jarvis, one discovery would change the direction of this entire investigation. A tablet that belonged to Nazia. At some point, after Naziah disappeared, Shannon found a tablet. There was just one problem. It was dead. So she charged it. And when it finally powered back on, Shannon did what I think a lot of us would have done. She started looking through it. That's when she discovered messages between Jarvis and Nazia. She confronted Jarvis about what she had found. And according to the evidence in this case, Jarvis tried to dismiss the messages telling Shannon that one of the kids must have been messaging with Nazaya, but Shannon wasn't convinced. She told him, My kids don't even talk like that. There was something else Shannon noticed. She could see that at least one photo had been exchanged during those conversations, but she couldn't actually see the image anymore. And if you've ever used Instagram, you probably know what I'm talking about. When someone sends a photo through Instagram and the other person opens it, you can usually tell that a photo was sent, but you can't reopen it to see what it was. It will still indicate that a photo was shared, but the image itself is no longer available to view. So Shannon knew a photo had been exchanged. She just had no way of knowing what that photo showed. At that point, what she had found was too significant to ignore. And as investigators began reviewing the communication for themselves, they started piecing together what they believed was a much larger story. And that's where we need to spend some time next. So once investigators obtained additional digital evidence and subpoenaed the communications associated with this case, they were able to review far more than what Shannon had initially discovered. As investigators pieced those communications together, they believed they were looking at a pattern, not random conversations, not isolated exchanges, a pattern of communication between a child and a grown 41-year-old man. I'm going to review a few of those messages with y'all, but before I do, I want to make sure you are prepared. Some of these messages are difficult to hear. They're heartbreaking, they're disgusting, and I'm not going to read every message investigators recovered because there were simply too many. Instead, I have selected a few that I believe are important to understanding how investigators built this case. If you'd like to review additional publicly available messages and exhibits, I'll be posting those on our TikTok. And I'll also include that information in the show notes. As we go through these messages, I want y'all to keep one thing in mind. You're not listening to conversations between two teenagers. According to the evidence in this case, these were communications between a child and a grown man. So let's start in September of 2022. Also, when I'm reading these messages, I'll say Harris and Buts. So when I say Harris, I'm referring to Nazia. When I say butt, I'm referring to Jarvis. All right. So September 27th, 2022. Harris, come on. Harris, you okay? Harris, where are we doing it at? Your choice. But you tell me. Harris, basement. Harris, you sure? Harris or job. But can you suck my D, please? But and make sure you erase the messages. Harris, Kay, that is what I plan to do. Y'all, at this point, Nazaia was approximately 11 years old and Jarvis was nearly 40 years old. The age difference alone should stop every single one of us in our tracks. Then there's something else that stood out to me. He tells her to erase the messages. That wasn't an accident. That wasn't random. He was instructing a child to delete the very conversations they were having. That tells me he understood those communications needed to be hidden. And I won't even go back to the suck my D because I am literally sick to my stomach, ready to vomit right now. But I'm paying attention to the message Harris sent when she says or job. It takes me back to how she was at his shop. A 13-year-old girl at the shop with a grown man. And at this point in time, she would have been 11 at an auto body shop or an auto shop with a grown man. June 27th, 2023. But are you naked yet? Harris, no, I don't want to get naked. Harris, are you mad I didn't get naked? But I used to you telling me no. Harris, come on, bae, I'm sorry, just not in the mood right now. I'm sorry. This exchange here broke my heart for a different reason. When she tells him no, his response suggests this wasn't the first time she'd been asked. Then she apologizes to him. Think about that. A child apologizing to a grown man because she didn't want to do something she wasn't comfortable doing. She even had this man saved on her phone as bay for life. This tells me she didn't view this as some random adult. She viewed him as someone she cared about, someone she thought cared about her. And that's one of the hardest parts about grooming. The child often believes you're in a relationship. September 26, 2023. Harris, bay you up. Harris, question mark, question mark, question mark. Harris, yeah. Harris, my period haven't came at all. Harris, hello, you there? But what you mean? Harris, it have not came. But since when? Harris, since I was in the hospital. But that was last month. Harris, I'm scared. I don't know what to do. I have to go to the doctor's TM, which is tomorrow. But you said you took a pregnancy test and it was negative. Harris, it did. But so go get another one. Harris, I can't. I have no money. Harris, you go get one. Harris, you ain't scared to get a plan B. Get a pregnancy test and bring it later today. Just act like you have to use the bathroom. Harris, please, Harris, will you do it? But okay. When I read this conversation, one of the first questions I wrote in my notebook was whether this was the first pregnancy scare. I can't answer that definitively, but the wording of this exchange made me wonder if this had happened before. Then another part stopped me. She mentions plan B. Again, I'm not going beyond what the evidence shows. I'm simply telling y'all what stood out to me as I reviewed these communications. November 27th, 2023. Harris, I just want to talk. I really don't want to lose you. Harris, can we talk later or no? Harris, I don't want your problem, but I need you to bring me what I need tonight. It's hard doing all this gym shit with this baby. And if I don't do them, I'm gonna get an F. By this point, the conversation feels different. She's talking about carrying a baby while trying to make it through gym and PE. There's one line in particular where she asks him to bring her something. I don't know what she was referring to. I'm not going to speculate, but hearing a child worry about school, pregnancy, and depending on a 41-year-old man, it's heartbreaking. January 9th, 2024. This is the final text exchange between Butts and Harris before she went missing. Harris, don't forget be there before 3. I will let you know when I'm leaving the school. You're not there, I will wait. Harris, send okay if you see the message so I can delete your number. But okay. Again, this is the final communication investigators recovered before Nazai disappeared. She tells him to be there before school lets out. She says she'll let him know when she's leaving. She asks him to acknowledge the message so she can delete his number. He responds, and after that, there are no further communications. That final exchange became one of the many reasons investigators began reconstructing January 9th, minute by minute. So, in order for detectives to determine whether that plan had actually been carried out, they began reconstructing January 9, 2024. Not from one witness, not from one surveillance camera, not from one cell phone, but by comparing every piece of evidence they could find. Investigators recovered surveillance footage showing Nazai boarding her school bus that morning. She was wearing her hair in two braided puff balls. Clear framed glasses, a white sweater underneath a black jacket, light blue jeans, and Nike shoes. At some point during the school day, investigators believed she took the last known photograph of herself that will also be in our TikTok. Then school let out. Surveillance footage captured Nazi leaving school wearing those same clothes. The video showed her walking in the direction of Jarvis's auto repair shop. Remember the final messages we just talked about? She told him to not forget to be there before 3. She said she would let him know when she was leaving school. She even asked him to respond so she could delete his number. Now investigators had surveillance footage that fit with those communications. According to the evidence gathered during the investigation, Nazaya later arrived at the auto repair shop where Jarvis worked. From there, detectives continued following the timeline. Evidence indicated that Jarvis, Nazaia, and one of Jarvis's co-workers later traveled together to Gibsalini before returning to the shop. As investigators continued comparing surveillance footage, digital evidence, business records, and location data, they were able to account for more of Jarvis's movements that evening. Records also placed a device associated with Jarvis at a motel later that night. The timeline investigators built wasn't based on one piece of information. Again, it was built by layering surveillance footage, digital communications, witness observations, phone records, and other investigative findings until they could reconstruct Nazia's final known movements. And despite all of that work, one fact never changed. After January 9th, 2024, Nazaya Harris was never seen again. So at some point, investigators had already pretty much reconstructed much of January 9th, but they still had another question to answer. Who exactly was Jarvis Butz? The more detectives investigated him, the more people they interviewed, family members, people who knew him personally, people who worked alongside him, women he had relationships with. Each interview added another layer to the investigation. Some witnesses helped investigators confirm the timeline. Others provided information about Jarvis' behavior, his relationships, and the way he interacted with the people around him. And as investigators continued digging, they began uncovering information that painted a much broader picture than the one they had started with. Let's start with the people who knew him best. One of the first people investigators needed to understand was Shannon. As y'all know by now, Shannon wasn't just another witness. She was Nazia's aunt. She lived in a home with Nazeh and she was also the mother of Jarvis' five children. That relationship is important because it explains how Jarvis became such a regular presence in Nazaya's life. He wasn't a stranger showing up out of nowhere. He was someone who had been coming around the family for years. As we talked about earlier, Shannon was the one who found Nazia's tablet after she disappeared. The tablet was dead, so she charged it and when it powered back on, she started going through it herself. That's when she discovered the communications between Jarvis and Naziya and confronted Jarvis about what she found. Again, according to the evidence in this case, Jarvis tried to dismiss the messages telling Shannon that Nazia and his kids were probably messaging, but Shannon wasn't buying that explanation, so she responded with My Kids Don't Communicate Like That. I know we already talked about that, but again, I wanted to bring that up. That statement, My Kids Don't Communicate Like That, has stayed with me ever since I heard it because Shannon immediately recognized that those conversations weren't normal. And as I continued reviewing the communications, another message caught my attention. I'm not going to read that one here, but I'll post it on our TikTok for those of y'all who want to review the messages for yourselves. In this particular exchange, Nazaya makes a comment about Shannon being in a bad mood and suggests that Jarvis should spend some time with her. Sexual time. When I read that, it made me realize just how normalized Jarvis's presence had become in Nazi's life. She wasn't talking to someone she viewed as an outsider. She was talking to someone who had become part of her everyday world. And that's one of the things that makes this case so difficult. The access wasn't hidden, it existed in plain sight. Now I also came across several reports claiming that Shannon herself was very young when she first became involved with Jarvis. Some of those reports even state that she was around 15 years old while Jarvis was already an adult. And I want to be transparent with y'all. I was not able to independently verify that through court records or other primary sources. So I'm not presenting it as established fact, but I am telling you that I came across that claim in multiple reports during my research. If that's true, it raises even more questions about the dynamics surrounding this family long before Nazia disappeared. Shannon's account was only one piece of a much larger puzzle. The next witness will help place Nazaia at a location investigators had already begun focusing on, Jarvis's auto repair shop. So this next witness was Jarvis's sister. Her testimony became important because she helped place Nazia at that auto shop. According to the evidence presented in this case, Jarvis's sister was at the shop on January 9th. She told investigators she saw a young girl there that afternoon. She later identified that girl as Niziah. She also identified clothing that investigators recovered as being consistent with what Jarvis had been wearing that day. Now, on its own, that may not seem like a huge piece of evidence, but remember, investigators weren't relying on one witness. They were comparing witness statements against surveillance footage, digital communications, phone records, and every other piece of evidence they had collected. So Jarvis's sister's account became another piece that fit into the timeline detectives had been building. And that's something I want y'all to pay attention to throughout this investigation. Very rarely does one witness solve a case. It's the combination of witnesses, combined with surveillance and that digital evidence and just overall forensic evidence. All of that combined allows investigators to begin seeing the bigger picture. And by that point, detectives had begun seeing the bigger picture, but they also interviewed someone else who spent nearly every day with Jarvis, his business partner, Cordell, or King. So I did go through King's entire testimony, and one of the things that he said is that Jarvis was respectful. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary with Naziya being there, but he did confirm that Naziah was there. Investigators continued digging. They interviewed someone who knew Jarvis in a different way, his fiance in 2023, Tashiana Davis. Her account would later become significant enough that prosecutors presented her testimony early in the preliminary examinations. According to the evidence in this case, Tashiana told investigators she drove Jarvis to turn himself in on an unrelated weapons charge in February 2024. She also described Jarvis as being extremely secretive with his phone. That immediately caught my attention because by this point, investigators had already recovered digital communications that had become a central part of this case. According to Tashiana, his secrecy wasn't something that started after Nazi disappeared. It was part of his behavior. Investigators also learned that when Jarvis turned himself in, law enforcement seized his phone from Tashiana's vehicle. That phone would become another important piece of the investigation as detectives continued examining his movements and communications, and Tashiana wasn't the last person investigators spoke with. Another witness, who was also the mother of one of Jarvis's children, told investigators that Jarvis borrowed her vehicle on January 9th and kept it overnight. When he returned the vehicle, she noticed something inside, a pair of glasses. Those glasses were described as being similar to the glasses Naziah had been seen wearing in photographs. Now I want to be careful here. The evidence wasn't that investigators conclusively identified those glasses as belonging to Nazaya. The significance was that they were similar to the glasses she was known to wear. To investigators, it became another piece of the puzzle. And by now, that's exactly what this case had become. Again, text messages, surveillance camera, witness statement, phone records, a borrowed vehicle, a pair of glasses. Standing alone, each piece may not tell you much, but layered together, investigators believed those pieces began telling the same story. And by this point, investigators had interviewed family members, they had interviewed people who worked with Jarvis. They had spoken with women who had relationships with him. They had collected surveillance footage, digital communications, phone records, and physical evidence, but they still weren't finished. As detectives continued digging into Jarvis himself, they began uncovering information that was sick. It wasn't just about where he had been on January 9th. It was about who he was. It was about the relationships he had built. It was about the access he had to children. And it was about what investigators alleged they discovered as they continued looking into his past. Now, before we go any further, I want to be very clear about something. Everything I'm about to discuss comes from the investigation, court proceedings, and publicly available records. I'm not bringing this up to suggest that someone is guilty of one thing because of something else. I'm bringing it up because investigators themselves continued digging into Jarvis's background as part of building this case. And what they uncovered would become another significant part of their investigation. So they continued digging and they were trying to understand whether this relationship with Nazi was an isolated incident or part of something bigger. According to the investigation and court records, Jarvis was already facing multiple criminal charges involving children before charges were ever filed in connection with Nazai's case. We're going to break those cases down later in this episode because I believe each one deserves to be discussed on its own. But I do want y'all to understand the scope of what investigators were uncovering. At the time this investigation was unfolding, there were at least four separate criminal cases involving alleged sexual assault offenses against children. And yes, you heard me correctly against children. And one of them was a four-year-old child that contracted chlamydia from Jarvis. When I first read that, I had to stop. I had to walk around. I had to splash my face with water. I was sick. Because regardless of how many true crime cases I've covered, reading the words four-year-old never gets easier. And as investigators continued looking into Jarvis's background, they believed they had uncovered a pattern in the way he developed relationships with women who had children, allowing him access to those children. That wasn't my conclusion. That was part of what investigators said they uncovered as they continued building this case. Again, we will visit those cases later in the episode. I just wanted you guys to know how important it was to understand that investigators believe Nazia's case did not exist in a vacuum. If you've listened to Black Brown and Unsolved for any amount of time, then you already know one of the things that's most important to me is making sure victims and their families have a voice. Whenever possible, I interview the people who love them because investigative fouls tells us what happened. Families tell us who that person was. This case was different. I made the decision not to interview Nazai's legal guardian Annette Harris or her aunt Shannon Harris. That was an intentional decision on my part. As I worked through the evidence, reviewed the testimony, and reconstructed the timeline, I came away believing there were difficult questions that needed to be asked, not only about Jarvis, but about some of the adults who surrounded Nazia. For me, accountability isn't just about the person charged with the crime. It's also about asking whether the adults who were entrusted to protect the child recognized the warning signs, responded appropriately, and did everything they could to keep that child safe. Those are difficult conversations, but they're conversations I'm willing to have. That doesn't mean this is the end of the conversation with Niziah's family. Quite the opposite. I have had the opportunity to connect with Roxy, Niziah's cousin, and I have so much respect for the work she's been doing behind the scenes. Instead of allowing this tragedy to define her family, Roxy has chosen to turn her grief into purpose. She's currently working on a project centered around awareness, education, and helping families recognize the warning signs of grooming and child exploitation. When the time is right, Roxy and I will sit down together so she can tell y'all more about Nazia, the work she's doing, and the mission she's building in her cousin's honor. And when that day comes, Black, Brown and Unsolved will proudly support her work, amplify her message, and stand beside her as an ally. If you've been with me for a while, then you know every episode ends with me asking bigger questions, not just who committed the crime, but why these failures keep happening, especially in Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. That's why I started this podcast. Because after covering case after case, I kept seeing the same patterns, delayed media coverage, delayed investigations, families begging people to pay attention, communities fighting for resources, victims who never seemed to receive the same urgency afforded to others. But this case also reminded me of something else. Some systems don't discriminate. Child protective services can fail any child, no matter what they look like, no matter where they live. And that's a conversation we have to be willing to have too. Why do these failures keep happening? Instead of assuming I knew the answer, I reached out to someone who has actually worked inside child protective services. I asked them that exact question. Their answer was honest. They explained that from the inside, many workers don't feel like they're failing children. They feel like they're trying to protect too many children with too few resources. They talked about overwhelming caseloads, high turnover among caseworkers, chronic underfunding, and communication breakdowns between CPS, schools, medical professionals, and law enforcement. None of those explanations excuse what happened to Nazaiah, but they do help explain why warning signs can sometimes get lost inside an overwhelmed system. That conversation immediately brought me back to the case of Susan Cox Powell. Now, Susan's case is very different from Nazaia's. Susan disappeared in 2009 and has never been found. Her husband, Josh Powell, was the only suspect in her disappearance, although he was never charged in her case. After Susan disappeared, their two young sons were placed with Susan's parents while Josh was allowed supervised visitation. According to Susan's parents, they warned child protective services they feared for the boy's safety. Despite those concerns, the supervised visit went forward. When the social worker arrived at Josh Powell's home with Charlie and Braden, the boys ran inside ahead of her. Josh locked the social worker out of the home. He then murdered both of his sons before taking his own life by setting the house on fire. Afterward, Susan's parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Washington's Child Protective Services, arguing that warning signs had been missed and that those boys should have never been placed in that situation. I'm not comparing Susan's case to Nazias. The facts are different. The circumstances are different. But they leave me asking the same exact question. How many opportunities does a child have to be protected before those opportunities run out? And I don't have all the answers. But after researching case after case, I've learned this. Children rarely become victims in complete isolation. There are warning signs, there are uncomfortable moments, there are adults who notice something isn't right. Sometimes those concerns are reported, sometimes they aren't. Sometimes they're acted on, and sometimes they aren't. And that's what makes Niziaya's case so heartbreaking. This wasn't a child who crossed paths with a stranger. This was a child who was surrounded by adults, which means protecting her was never supposed to fall on just one person. It was supposed to be a shared responsibility. That's the part of this case I can't stop thinking about. Because predators don't create access by themselves. Adults give it to them, whether intentionally or unintentionally. That's why conversations like this matter. Not to point fingers just for the sake of pointing fingers, but to recognize warning signs before another child becomes another episode of Black, Brown, and Unsolved. If Nazaiah's story teaches us anything, I hope it's this. Trust your instincts. Ask the uncomfortable questions. Don't dismiss behavior that doesn't sit right with you. Don't assume someone else will step in because protecting children belongs to all of us. The names change, the cities change, the circumstances change, but the questions don't. And until those questions start getting better answers, I'm gonna keep asking them. As this podcast continues to grow, I want to give those conversations the time they deserve. So eventually we'll be taking our theory discussions over to YouTube and TikTok live. We'll sit down, walk through the evidence piece by piece, answer your questions, revisit testimony, and I'll finally tell you exactly what I think happened and more importantly why. Because some conversations deserve more than five minutes at the end of a podcast episode. They deserve their own show. We're not there just yet, but we're getting there. So today I'm not going to tell you what I think happened. Instead, I'm going to walk you through the theories that have been discussed publicly, shared with me during my research, and debated by people following this case. Theory one, Shannon knew more than what she said. One of the most common theories is that Shannon was much more involved than investigators have publicly revealed. Some people believe she knew exactly what was happening between Jarvis and Nazia. Others believe she ignored warning signs. Some have even questioned whether jealousy played a role because of the attention Jarvis appeared to give Nezaya. I understand why people ask those questions. But asking whether someone knew more and proving they knew more are two very different things. Theory 2, the pregnancy was the motive. Another widely discussed theory centers around Nazaiah's pregnancy. Some believe Jarvis brought Nazia to the auto shop the way he reportedly had before, and according to this theory, once he realized the pregnancy could expose everything, he decided to kill her. Others have taken that theory a step further and believe there was an attempt to remove the pregnancy outside of a medical setting and that something went terribly wrong. There is no public evidence confirming that theory, but it continues to be discussed because people are trying to understand why Nazaia has never been found. Another theory focuses on King. Some believe King knew much more than he admitted during his testimony. Others have even speculated that he may have had an inappropriate relationship with Nazaia himself. At this point, I have not seen evidence presented in court proving those claims, but they are theories that continue to circulate. And it's important to recognize the difference between public speculation and evidence presented in a courtroom. Theory 4. Jarvis acted alone. There are people who believe Jarvis acted completely alone, that after months of grooming, manipulation, and abuse, he made the decision to kill Nazia in an effort to keep everything from coming to light. Based on what has been presented publicly, it's understandable why many people have reached that conclusion. But again, today isn't about what I believe. It's about understanding the conversation surrounding this case. As for my own theory, y'all are just going to have to wait. Because trust me, I have thoughts, a lot of them. But when I finally share them, I want to do it the right way. I want to have enough time to explain not only what I think happened, but why I think it happened. We'll pull up documents, we'll revisit testimony, we'll walk through timelines, we'll challenge each other respectfully, we'll answer your questions, and we'll have the conversations that simply don't fit inside a podcast episode. So if you think you already know what my theory is, email me. Leave a comment, come find me on TikTok. I genuinely want to hear what y'all think happened because sometimes another perspective helps all of us see something we may have missed. Let's talk about where this case currently stands. Just when it appeared the case was finally headed to trial, everything changed. Jarvis Butts was scheduled to stand trial on February 23rd, 2026. Instead, just 11 days before trial, on February 12, 2026, he stood before the court and entered guilty pleas, not only in the Zaya Harris's case, but in five other criminal cases involving child victims. That plea changed everything. According to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, Jarvis pleaded guilty in six separate criminal cases. In the Zaya's case, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He also pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving other child victims. As part of the plea agreement, several other charges in each of those cases were dismissed. I want to pause here because I know hearing that can be frustrating. When you hear that charges were dismissed, it doesn't necessarily mean prosecutors believe those allegations didn't happen. It means prosecutors agree not to pursue certain counts in exchange for guilty pleas on others. Plea agreements are common in the criminal justice system. They can spare victims, especially children, from having to testify in court, eliminate the uncertainty of a jury trial, and guarantee convictions. Do I personally like it? No. But I also understand why prosecutors sometimes make those decisions. However, I personally struggle with the idea that someone I believe caused this much harm to so many children receives any benefit through a negotiated plea. That's simply where I stand, and I'm not coming up off of that. The plea agreement resolves six different criminal cases. So I'm getting ready to cover some of this specific case information with you guys, but before I do that, I want to explain something that you'll hear throughout me explaining these cases. Michigan doesn't use the term sexual assault in its criminal code the way many other states do. Instead, it uses the legal term criminal sexual conduct or CSC. You'll hear different degrees of CSC because each degree describes a different type of offense under Michigan law. First degree criminal sexual conduct is the most serious and generally involves sexual penetration along with aggravating circumstances such as the victim's age or other factors defined by law. Second degree criminal sexual conduct generally involves sexual conduct under circumstances prohibited by law. It does not require penetration. Third degree criminal sexual conduct generally involves sexual penetration under circumstances that violate Michigan law but don't meet the additional aggravating factors required for first degree. In Jarvis's case, he ultimately pleaded guilty to four counts of second degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of third degree criminal sexual conduct, along with second degree murder as part of his plea agreement. So in case number 25 000 218 01-F C. Involving 13-year-old Naziah Harris, Jarvis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The remaining counts in that case were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. The remaining five cases involved additional child victims. One involved a then seven-year-old girl, one involved a then four-year-old child that Jarvis reportedly gave the chlamydia to, and this is also reported to be his child. One involved a then eight or nine-year-old girl, another involved a then 13-year-old girl, and one involved a then eight-year-old child whose gender has not been publicly identified. I also think it's important to point out that several of those victims were reportedly his own children. Children who should have been able to trust the adult who was supposed to protect them. On March 12, 2026, Jarvis returned to court for sentencing. In Nazia's case, he was sentenced to 35 to 60 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections for Second Degree Murder. For each of the four second-degree criminal sexual conduct convictions, he received 10 to 15 years. For the third degree criminal sexual conduct conviction, he also received 10 to 15 years. The court ordered every sentence to run concurrently. And if you're unfamiliar with that term, it simply means all of the sentences began at the same time instead of one after another. So although Jarvis was sentenced in six different criminal cases, the controlling sentence became the longest one, 35 to 60 years for the murder of Naziah Harris. He would not have been eligible to apply for parole until serving at least 35 years. Another detail prosecutors have confirmed is that Jarvis made a statement about the location of Nazi's body as part of the plea agreement. However, that statement has never been released publicly. So whatever he said, only investigators know. Then, just 15 days after sentencing, on March 27, 2026, there was another unexpected development. Jarvis Butts was found dead inside his prison cell. We'll likely never know everything he knew, will likely never know every answer he took with him. And for so many people, that's one of the hardest parts of this story. Because although Jarvis's criminal cases have ended, Nazia's story hasn't. She is still missing, her family still deserves to bring her home. The people who loved her still deserve answers. And if anyone else knows what happened after Nazai left school on January 9, 2024, I hope one day they find the courage to tell the truth. Because no plea agreement, no conviction, and no death in prison will ever replace bringing Nazai home. That's why we continue seeing her name. Nazaiah Harris was 13 years old. She deserved to grow up. She deserved to become an adult. She deserved a future. Instead, she became another child whose story demanded to be told. And as long as there are families searching for answers, as long as there are children whose stories risk being forgotten, Black Brown and Unsolved will continue telling them. Before I let y'all go, I want a minute with my internet nieces. If you're listening to my voice right now, I'm talking directly to you. I don't care if you're 10, 13, 16, or even 26, I need you to hear me. If an adult ever tells you to keep your relationship a secret, that's not love. If an adult makes you feel special in a way that doesn't sit right, if they're buying you things, giving you extra attention, telling you you're more mature than everyone else, or asking you to keep things between just the two of you, please tell someone. Tell your mama, tell your daddy, tell your grandma, your auntie, your teacher, your school counselor, your coach. Tell somebody you trust. And if the first person doesn't listen, tell someone else. Keep telling until somebody does. Because none of that is your fault. Adults are supposed to protect children. Children are never supposed to protect adults. And I want every one of my internet nieces to know this. You deserve to be safe. You deserve to be heard. You deserve to grow up. I want you to graduate. I want you to chase every dream that's in your heart. I want you to fall in love one day with someone who loves you the right way. I want you to become everything God created you to be. And I pray I never have to tell your story on this podcast. If today's episode meant something to you, I'd love for you to continue this conversation with me over on TikTok. Just search Black Brown and Unsolved. It's a brand new page, y'all, and I'm building it from the ground up. And I am so bad on social media. I am so inconsistent, but I'm working on getting better. So any support, I truly appreciate it. If you guys would just go over there now and just give me a follow, I'm gonna post all the things that I can from this week's episode, including the text messages, timelines, court documents, photos, and some of the details we simply couldn't fit into today's episode. Eventually, we'll also be taking these conversations live on TikTok, and you already know about the YouTube deal. So we'll walk through the evidence, answer your questions, and spend time discussing the cases. And yes, we'll finally sit down with our tea and talk through my personal theories. Again, we're not there just yet, so don't blow me up asking me when. We are getting there. It takes a lot of work. Again, YouTube is a completely different animal. So make sure you're following the page and listening to future episodes because that's where I'll announce everything first. Thank y'all for spending this time with me. Again, welcome back to Blackburn and Unsolved. I'm your host, Amberly, and if it feels weird, it is a lot of people.