Left inset: Dr. Devon Hoover (WDIV). Right inset: Desmond Burks (Wayne County Jail). Background: Hoover”s Boston-Edison home (WDIV).
In a dramatic turn of events, a Michigan man has confessed to the murder of a prominent neurosurgeon and another individual, shedding light on a series of grim events that spanned over a year. Desmond Burks, aged 35, entered a guilty plea in court, acknowledging his role in the horrifying deaths.
Burks faced multiple charges, including second-degree murder, larceny exceeding $20,000, unauthorized computer use for criminal activity, and illegal firearm possession, as reported by witnesses in the courtroom, including a local NBC affiliate, WDIV. In a plea agreement related to the murder of 53-year-old Devon Hoover, a first-degree murder charge was dropped against Burks.
He also admitted to manslaughter in the case of 67-year-old Reda Saleh’s death, initially charged as second-degree murder, according to previous reports by Law&Crime.
Investigations revealed that Burks and Hoover had a prior acquaintance before the neurosurgeon’s death in April 2023. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy highlighted their close relationship, evidenced by an exchange of approximately 4,000 text messages between the two.
Prosecutor Worthy elaborated, stating, “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,” as reported by WDIV.
Burks, who had previously been convicted of arson, was released from prison in the summer of 2022, according to records from the Michigan Department of Corrections. Several months after his release, he murdered Hoover, hiding the esteemed neurosurgeon’s body in an attic crawl space within Hoover’s mansion located in Detroit’s historic Boston-Edison neighborhood.
A member of Hoover’s family called 911, asking law enforcement to conduct a welfare check at the home after Hoover had not returned home to Indiana to see his dying mother, Lauretta, who passed away four days after his murder. Police responded to the house and discovered his body on April 23, 2023.
The day before the chilling discovery, Hoover’s Range Rover was found several miles away from his home blocking a driveway — with blood inside the vehicle. And back at the crime scene, Hoover was “face-down” in the attic crawl space, “only wearing socks” and “wrapped in a blood-soaked carpet.” The medical examiner’s office determined that he had been shot twice in the head.
Burks was detained as a person of interest in May 2023, but he was later let go “following prosecutorial review,” then-Detroit Police Chief James White said. Authorities said that items belonging to Hoover — including expensive watches, a phone and a wallet — were stolen and that the evidence showed fraudulent bank account activity in the days after the murder.
The defendant apparently had a proclivity toward violence, as, about a year after killing Hoover, he encountered Saleh on a Detroit road. As the area’s Fox affiliate WJBK reported, on April 17, 2024, Burks got angry when Saleh bumped the back of his car, and after an argument, Burks punched Saleh in the head and left the scene.
The older man was brought to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead on May 11, 2024.
Burks is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 20, when he is expected to be put behind bars for the rest of his life.
An obituary for Hoover recalls that he bought his Detroit mansion in 2008. He was a board member of the Detroit Opera and “hosted a picturesque Christmas party that became a bit of a tradition in his neighborhood.”
The obituary expresses how much he loved the home where he would one day be found dead. “He was essentially the curator of his own museum, which he loved sharing with friends, family, and visitors,” it reads.
