The courtroom was tense as Desmond Burks faced the preliminary hearing for the murder of Dr. Devon Hoover, more than two years after the neurosurgeon's death rocked Detroit's Boston-Edison neighborhood. Burks, accused of shooting Dr. Hoover twice in the head in April 2023 and leaving his body in the home's attic crawlspace, sat with Hoover's family looking on, as reported by CBS News Detroit.
On day one of the hearing, the prosecution presented a Detroit police officer who recounted the 911 call that led him to discover blood in Hoover's white Range Rover. This discovery triggered a welfare check at Hoover's home. "I walked up to the vehicle, observed blood on the driver's seat, back seat, on the steering wheel of the vehicle," said the officer, as noted by WXYZ. Meanwhile, the officer's further actions and observations were not detailed by WXYZ on whether the blood was fresh or had been sitting for a while.
During the proceedings, significant focus was placed on intimate relations between Burks and Hoover, including a claimed financial component for sexual services. "Dr. Hoover had approximately 4,000 communications with a number attributed to Desmond Burks," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said during a news conference, as per FOX 2 Detroit. This relationship might be a critical element in the prosecution's narrative of the events leading to Hoover's death.
Key emotional testimony came from Burks' mother, who took the stand to identify her son in surveillance footage related to Hoover's Range Rover. She distinguished him by his characteristic limp: "He had a limp because he got shot," Burks' family member said in court, as mentioned by CBS News Detroit. Her recognition of a leather jacket he was wearing added a personal touch to the evidence presented. Burks also faces charges in an unrelated road rage incident from April 2024, a significant detail that could weigh on the public perception of the case and Burks's character, according to FOX 2 Detroit. The hearing is poised to continue through the week, with additional witnesses slated to provide further details.
