Detroit Man Charged in Gay Doctor’s Murder After 15-Month Delay

Police in Detroit have arrested a man who allegedly had an “intimate relationship” with a 53-year-old gay doctor who was found murdered inside a crawl space in his attic in April 2023.

Desmond Burks, 34, was charged with first-degree premeditated murder and felony murder for the shooting death of Dr. Devon Hoover, a neurosurgeon, at his home in Detroit’s Boston-Edison Historic District, on the city’s west side.

Burks also faces charges of larceny of over $20,000, using a computer to commit a crime, possession of a firearm by a felon, and three second-offense felony firearm violations — the latter three of which are connected to the premeditated murder, felony murder, and firearm possession charges.

Prosecutors had been reticent to charge Burks in the 15 months since Hoover’s murder, primarily because it took a while for police to gather sufficient evidence, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. But circumstances have changed.

“We feel very comfortable, extremely comfortable, at this point in time that we can prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Worthy told The Daily Beast. “But it was a lot of work to even get to this space.”

Acknowledging the criticism that police had received for what appeared to be a delay in charging anyone for Hoover’s murder, Worthy noted that the investigators had to be dispatched to four other states — California, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas — and overseas to England and France, to track down evidence.

She said that investigators interviewed 87 witnesses, analyzed 77 pieces of camera evidence, and examined 300 pieces of evidence that were uncovered after obtaining 134 search warrants. The police arrest report totals 181 pages.

Worthy added that the investigation had been further complicated because several witnesses were “extremely reluctant” to share sensitive and personal information.

Hoover’s murder was first discovered after Detroit police officers received a parking complaint in the 9900 block of Coyle Street on April 22, 2023. Officers arrived on the scene to find Hoover’s white Range Rover blocking a driveway. Upon further investigation, officers saw blood on the inside of the vehicle. 

The Range Rover was towed to a Detroit police tow yard and its license plate was tracked to Hoover, a resident of West Boston Boulevard, about five miles from where the vehicle had been abandoned. Officers went to Hoover’s home that evening and found the driveway gate leading to the back of the house open. They received no response when they knocked on the front or back doors.

The next day, Detroit police received a 911 call from a family member of Hoover’s in Indiana. That person requested a welfare check at Hoover’s home because he had failed to show up to see his dying mother in Indiana.

Officers arrived at Hoover’s house, finding the gate still open, at which point they noticed blood on the side of the back door and forced their way inside. They discovered Hoover’s body, clad only in a single sock, wrapped up in a sheet and a blood-soaked carpet, in the third-floor attic crawl space. An autopsy later concluded Hoover had been killed by two gunshots to the head.

Hoover’s cell phone, wallet, money, credit cards, and two watches, each valued at over $6,000, were all missing from his home. Investigators began tracking Hoover’s bank accounts, discovering new charges that appeared in the days following his murder. In total, the person stole about $30,000 from Hoover, not including the expensive watches.

Cell phone records later revealed that Hoover had exchanged about 4,000 text messages with a phone number that was later linked to 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,” Worthy said.

Burks soon became a person of interest in connection with the murder, prosecutors say. Worthy confirmed that Burks had been taken into custody as part of the murder investigation on April 28, 2023, and released on May 2, 2023, due to a lack of evidence.

While Burks was in custody, someone broke into Hoover’s home on the night of April 29 into April 30. Police have not revealed what, if anything, was stolen from the home, and no update has been provided.

In the 15 months following Hoover’s murder, police continued to work the case. Investigators later discovered that, on the day of Hoover’s murder, cell phone data showed the doctor’s phone had traveled from his house to the area near Burks’ west side residence, and then returned to Hoover’s home. But the phone signal later headed back to the area near Burks’ home and subsequently to the Fairlane Mall in Dearborn, Michigan, never returning back to Hoover’s residence.

Additionally, Hoover’s Range Rover was discovered at a property not far from Burks’ home, and police eventually discovered that Burks’ personal phone records showed his own cell phone had traveled to Hoover’s house on the day of the murder.

Over the course of the investigation, police found an image of Burks parking the Range Rover in the area of Coyle Street. He was seen limping away from the car, carrying a backpack. Worthy said that Burks was known to be walking with a limp at the time due to having been shot in the hip.

Police searched Burks’ home and uncovered one of Hoover’s Cartier watches. In April 2024, they learned about another home linked to Burks and found a $7,500 watch that Hoover had purchased the day before his death.

Burks is currently being held at the Wayne County Jail on a $1 million bond in connection with an unrelated second-degree murder charge. On April 17, 2024, Burks, in a fit of “road rage,” allegedly punched a 67-year-old driver who had accidentally bumped into his car, leaving him lying in the street, unresponsive, with a serious head injury. That man, Reda Saleh, later died on May 11, leading to Burks’ arrest on May 15.

Burks’ lawyer later requested, on May 24, that Burks be examined to determine if he is mentally competent to stand trial for Saleh’s murder. A competency hearing has been scheduled for September 3, 2024, in front of Judge Kenneth King in Michigan’s 36th District Court.

On Thursday, August 8, Burks was arraigned on the charges related to Hoover’s murder, at which point he was denied bond. He is next scheduled to appear in court on August 15 in connection with the Hoover case.