Dr. Devon Hoover murder: Court hearing for suspect as trial looms
New evidence in murder of Dr. Hoover
Dr. Devon Hoover was murdered in his own home in April 2023, now the suspect is facing his preliminary hearing.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - More than two years since the murder of Dr. Devon Hoover shocked the Boston-Edison neighborhood in Detroit, the man charged with killing the neurosurgeon appeared in court for a preliminary hearing as his trial inches closer.
Desmond Burks arrived in court Monday morning in Wayne County for his preliminary hearing. Burks is accused of killing Dr. Hoover in his own home in April 2023 before wrapping up his body and putting him in the crawlspace.
What they're saying:
During testimony on Monday, it was revealed that Dr. Hoover was shot twice in the head. His body was ultimately discovered in the attic crawlspace of his historic home in Detroit's Boston-Edison neighborhood.
However, police were already looking for the doctor after his white Range Rover was found on April 22, 2023.
"I walked up to the vehicle – observed blood on the driver’s seat – backseat and on the steering wheel of the vehicle," a Detroit Police Officer testified.
FOX 2 was in court for the preliminary hearing. However, the judge has ordered not to stream the case or identify any witnesses testifying – including police.
The officer testified the plate returned to Dr. Hoover and a well-being was done at his house. Bodycam video showed officers knocking on the front and back doors and looking through windows.
Prosecutors said Burks was the one who abandoned Dr. Hoover's Range Rover, with a witness testifying it was him.
His mom testified his son had a distinct limp.
Prosecutors argue that Burks was in a relationship with Hoover before he killed him, stole his wallet, credit cards, watches, and money.
Burks was arrested shortly after Hoover's murder but in an unrelated case. He was accused of killing another man in a road rage incident in April of 2024, a year after Hoover was murdered.
Testimony will continue on Tuesday.
The backstory:
Hoover, 53, was found shot to death and wrapped in a bloody carpet in the attic of his home on April 23, 2023, a day after his Range Rover was parked outside another Detroit home.
Police went to Hoover's house after the vehicle was found, but no one answered. They returned the next day and found his body, face down, wearing only socks, after his family requested a welfare check because he missed a trip to visit his dying mother in Indiana.
"Dr. Hoover had approximately 4,000 communications with a number attributed to Desmond Burks," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said during a news conference last summer. "The text messages established that Desmond Burks and Dr. Hoover were in an intimate relationship with one another and that, on occasion, Desmond Burks would charge Dr. Hoover for these sexual services."