(NewsNation) — A Michigan judge has ruled a Detroit man charged in the death of missing 13-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris will stand trial.

District court Judge Aliyah Sabree deemed there was enough evidence against Jarvis Butts, 42, after a weeklong preliminary hearing in which several witnesses testified about the young girl’s disappearance last year.

Prosecutors presented cell tower tracking data, testimony from several people leading up to Na’Ziyah’s disappearance and the girl’s belongings found in an area Butts was reportedly seen in the days she went missing as evidence.  

Butts had allegedly been sexually abusing Na’Ziyah. 

“The evidence in this case will clearly show that the defendant’s alleged actions were beyond predatory. They were vulturous — he groomed and preyed upon Na’Ziyah with expertise. We will prove that he killed young Na’Ziyah after he found out she was pregnant at 13 with his child,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement.

Butts’ defense unsuccessfully argued a lack of connection between the alleged evidence to suggest Butts intended and caused Na’Ziyah’s death.

After making her decision, the judge called Butts “the monster in this whole picture” as he stood in court, CBS News reported. 

Na’Ziyah “was ignored. She was neglected, and you took complete advantage of that. She wanted someone to love her, and she will never know what that feels like,” Sabree said. 

Butts was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, child sexually abusive activity and criminal sexual conduct. 

Here’s a timeline of Na’Ziyah’s disappearance and alleged killing: 

Na’Ziyah goes missing

Na’Ziyah was reported missing Jan. 9, 2024, by her grandmother and adoptive mother, Annette Harris, when she didn’t come home from school. Harris said the young girl had never gone missing from school before. 

Prosecutors say Na’Ziyah used a school-issued tablet to send messages from her class to a device associated with Butts to confirm they would be meeting after she got out of school that day.

Surveillance video showed Na’Ziyah leaving school. 

The girl then met Butts and a co-worker, and they went back to their Detroit auto repair shop, according to prosecutors. Na’Ziyah is allegedly seen by Butts’ sister at the shop.

Butts, his co-worker and Na’Ziyah reportedly drove in the co-worker’s car to Ypsilanti, Michigan, and then returned to the shop. Butts’ phone reportedly places him at these locations.

Butts reportedly checked into a motel from 9:30 p.m. to 12:20 p.m.

Na’Ziyah was not seen again, prosecutors say. 

Alleged abuse

Prosecutors said Butts knew the girl because he was in a relationship with Na’Ziyah’s aunt, Shannon Harris, with whom he had five children. 

Harris testified during the preliminary hearing that she found inappropriate Instagram messages between Na’Ziyah and Butts after the girl went missing, CourtTV reported.

Prosecutors alleged Butts sent Na’Ziyah multiple texts of a “sexually explicit nature” starting in September 2022. The young girl also reportedly sent explicit texts.  

Na’Ziyah’s 8-year-old cousin testified that on two separate occasions, Butts took them and another child to the auto shop where he worked, the outlet reported. The child said Butts sexually abused Na’Ziyah on both occasions. 

In September 2023, Na’Ziyah allegedly texted Butts that she had not had her period, and evidence showed that Butts knew she was pregnant in November 2023, prosecutors said.

Butts’ phone records reveal online searches including “abortions, abortion pills, and drinking red antifreeze,” prosecutors said. 

Butts’ connection

Butts was in the Rouge River area in Detroit one day after the girl was reported missing, and the clothing Na’Ziyah was last seen wearing was found in the same area, according to investigators. 

“There was damage to a piece of the found clothing that could indicate a struggle,” prosecutors said. 

Lead investigator Sgt. Shannon Jones testified about several concerns after the girl went missing, Court TV reported. 

“No. 1, she had never been missing before. There’s been no updates on any of her social media, which is very uncommon for a young child or a juvenile. They’re addicted to those. There had been a last known contact that she had possibly met somebody, is what we were informed, that there was a text message,” Jones told a judge. 

Jones said investigators found suspicious Google searches from December 2023 on electronic devices belonging to Butts one month before Na’Ziyah disappeared.

“What’s visited, it’s ‘drink me and abort your baby. The herbal abortion tea by Mya,'” Jones testified.

The Detroit Public Schools Police Department investigated the case until early February 2024 and then turned it over to the Detroit Police Department.