Detroit police arrest suspect in mansion murder of neurosurgeon rolled up in carpet
Detroit authorities on Wednesday announced an arrest in the fatal April 2023 shooting of 57-year-old neurosurgeon Devon Hoover.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said that Desmond Burks, 34, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, larceny of over $20,000, using a computer to commit a crime and felony firearm possession in connection with Hoover's murder.
"This massive investigation was conducted for over a year in conjunction with local, state and federal law enforcement partners. This investigation spanned five states and three countries. Voluminous amounts of documents and evidence were recovered," Worthy said.
Burks and Hoover apparently had an intimate relationship, and Burks would sometimes charge Hoover for their sexual encounters, Worthy said.
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Cellphone data allegedly shows Hoover's phone moving back and forth between his million-dollar mansion in Detroit's historic Boston-Edison neighborhood and Burks' address in the Grandale area, about 15 minutes away, the day before the doctor's murder.
The investigation crossed state lines through Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Texas and California, as well as country lines through the U.S., England and France, Worthy said.
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On April 22, a Sunday, police received a civilian complaint about a white Range Rover blocking a driveway on Coyle Street in Detroit's Grandale neighborhood. The vehicle had blood inside, and police collected it as evidence.
Police later discovered that Hoover owned the Range Rover and traveled to his address on West Boston Boulevard — about 15 minutes from Grandale. Police noticed that Hoover's driveway gate leading to both the front and rear of the house was "wide open," but no one appeared to be home.
On April 23, Hoover's family contacted 911 to request a well-being check on the neurosurgeon after he failed to visit his dying mother in Indiana. Further evidence revealed what appeared to be blood on the back entrance of Hoover's home, and police decided to force entry into his residence, where they found Hoover dead.
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"Dr. Devon Hoover was found deceased in the third-floor attic crawlspace. He was face-down. He was only wearing socks. He was wrapped in a blood-soaked carpet. He appeared to be shot in the head," Worthy said, adding that a medical examiner later determined that he had been killed by two gunshot wounds to the head.
Almost immediately after his murder, authorities discovered that several of the doctor's personal belongings were missing, including his cellphone, wallet, money, credit cards and designer watches. Fraudulent transactions were made from his financial accounts in the days following his death.
Burks' fingerprint was later found in Hoover's Range Rover, and authorities found the neurosurgeon's Cartier watches inside Burks' residence.
Prior to Hoover's murder, Burks was charged in connection with a road rage incident that left a 67-year old Dearborn man dead on April 17. The cases are unrelated, Worthy said.
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In April 2023, police took the person of interest in Hoover's death into custody on an unrelated charge, but Detroit Police Chief James White said he believed that the person may have information about the doctor's apparent murder.
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"I'm confident that this person of interest who is in custody on an unrelated charge will provide some information for us as to what occurred," White said.
Hoover grew up working on his family's dairy farm, "milking the cows, planting and harvesting crops, and doing many other chores alongside the rest of the family" until he decided "early in life" to become a doctor, according to his obituary.
"At the time of his death, he had been practicing for 27 years as a board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in the treatment of neck and back disorders," the obituary states.