Dr. Devon Hoover murder: Trial pushed until next week
Jury selection begins for Dr. Devon Hoover's accused killer
Jury selection is set to begin Monday as the Dr. Devon Hoover murder trial gets underway. Desmond Burks is accused of killing the well-known Detroit neurosurgeon nearly three years ago.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - UPDATE: The trial for Desmond Burks has been moved until Jan. 20.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday after well-known Detroit neurosurgeon Dr. Devon Hoover was shot and killed in his home in 2023.
The trial for Desmond Burks, which is expected to take weeks, was moved from last week. Jury selection was set to start Monday, but was changed last minute. It is unclear why.
The backstory:
Burks is facing numerous felony charges, including murder, larceny, using a computer to commit a crime, and felony firearms for the April 2023 death of Hoover.
Hoover, 53, was found shot to death and wrapped in a bloody carpet in the attic of his home in the city's Boston-Edison neighborhood 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.
Community stunned at murder of popular neurosurgeon inside his Detroit mansion
A neurosurgeon, Hoover, 53, was beloved by his neighbors who said off-camera he was the anchor of the tightly-knit neighborhood.
The discovery spurred an investigation that lasted more than a year as authorities worked to gather enough evidence to charge Burks. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Burks was the original person of interest. He was questioned and released, initially, because they needed more evidence to advance the case.
Hoover's designer watches and credit cards were also missing after the crime, authorities said.
Dig deeper:
Worthy said that a massive amount of evidence was part of the investigation that spanned five states – Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, and California – and three countries – the U.S., France, and England, though she declined to say how those other locations were tied to the case.
Dr. Devon Hoover murder: Massive amount of evidence leads to charges against Detroit man
A man accused of murdering well-known Detroit neurosurgeon Devon Hoover is now facing charges after an investigation that has been ongoing for more than a year.
"Dr. Hoover had approximately 4,000 communications with a number attributed to Desmond Burks," Worthy said when charges were announced against Burks. "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."
The prosecutor noted that the nature of the relationship made some witnesses hesitant to come forward with information.
Another murder:
Burks is also charged with murder for allegedly killing another man a year after Hoover was killed.
According to authorities, that murder happened during a road rage incident in Detroit.
A trial date has not been set for that case, but a review hearing is scheduled for next month.
The Source: Previous reporting was used in this story.