Inset left: Deandre Booker (Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office). Inset right: Ashley Lashay Elkins (Andrews & Hardy Funeral Home). Background: Law enforcement investigates the scene at Booker’s apartment in Roseville, Michigan (WXYZ/YouTube).
Startling details were presented in court this week in the case of a man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend. In one instance, the man allegedly used a Google search prior to the woman’s disappearance to look up: “telling god I want to kill someone.”
Deandre Booker, 33, stands charged with first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, disinterment and mutilation, and concealing the death of an individual, according to the Macomb County, Michigan, Prosecutor’s Office.
The defendant was originally arrested on Jan. 8. for “lying to police” about 30-year-old Ashley Lashay Elkins’s disappearance, authorities say.
About three weeks later, the murder and other charges were brought against him. Prosecutors maintain that on Jan. 2, Elkins went to Booker’s home in Roseville, Michigan. They believe he killed her there “and disposed of her body.”
Evidence released in Macomb County court on Friday provided chilling clues into those alleged premeditated intentions of murder and thoughts after committing the crime, prosecutors argued.
Those alleged clues included Google searches from Booker’s phone in the days before and after Elkins’ disappearance. As Roseville Police Department Detective Chris Moran recounted in court, according to Detroit-based NBC affiliate WDIV, the searches of note began on Dec. 22, 2024.
“[T]elling god i want to kill someone,” Booker allegedly wrote, followed by – a week later – “9mm silencer roseville” and two other similar searches including the word “michigan” and its abbreviation. That same day, he wrote something far more telling, police claim: “murder out of rage ex.”
On Jan. 2, searches of note continued, prosecutors claim.
One alleged search was: “shoot gun threw pillow.” Another alleged search was: “shotgun throw pillow” Yet another was: “Can you track location when phone is off,” according to prosecutors.
But perhaps the most revealing search came a few days later, on Jan. 5. – three days after Elkins, a mother of two, had last been seen.
“What happened to trash after its picked up,” Booker’s Google search history reads, according to law enforcement.
The suspect was reportedly arrested on Jan. 31 after blood was found in the dumpster at Booker’s apartment complex.
Moran argued the final-mentioned search is relevant because “if he had placed the victim in the dumpster, he would definitely be very concerned as to where the trash would go with the body.”
Elkins disappeared on Jan. 2; five days later, police found her car and searched Booker’s apartment. Following his arrest on Jan. 8 on the “lying to police” charge and the clues reportedly discovered in the dumpster, investigators searched the Pine Tree Acres Landfill in Lenox Township, according to a sequence of events provided by local ABC affiliate WXYZ.
They have still not found Elkins’ body.
In the days after the woman’s disappearance, Booker allegedly called police to do a walk-through of his apartment, and they found drops of Elkins’ blood in the bathroom and around the residence, The Detroit News reported.
Booker’s trial is reportedly scheduled to resume on Friday.
“Our hearts are with Ashley’s family as they endure this unimaginable pain, and we remain committed to seeking justice for them and our community,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said in January. “No one should suffer such a loss, and we will do everything in our power to ensure accountability.”
