Potential evidence revealed in preliminary hearing for suspect in Ashley Elkins' case
Friday was day three of the preliminary hearing for the accused killer of Warren mother, Ashley Elkins, who has been missing since January.
The hearing started with obscure sounds coming from the suspect, DeAndre Booker, who was in court virtually. Booker is charged with first-degree premeditated murder, tampering with evidence, disinterment or mutilation of a dead body and concealing the death of an individual. He is also charged with lying to police in a related case.
Booker had the option to appear in person, but chose not to for the second time.
Elkins's family reported the 30-year-old missing on Jan. 3. Investigators allege that Booker, who they say is Elkins's ex-boyfriend, killed the mother of two in his Roseville apartment before disposing of her body. Despite searches, including in a landfill, her body has not been found.
On Friday, two people took the stand, including a forensic scientist and Payne Barksdale, who says she is Booker's adopted niece.
"Whenever I needed anything, I could call him and he's there, " Barksdale said in court.
Barksdale testified that the two had not spoken for around a decade until last year. She says Booker asked her to move his co-worker's car to a different apartment; it's unclear whose car it was. Barksdale said that this happened in January, the same month Elkins went missing.
"He said the cops were hot in that area, so with me having a license, if I were to be pulled over, he said I wouldn't have any trouble," she said.
After the two dropped off the car, Barksdale said Booker showed her around his apartment. She told the courtroom that when returning to the apartment, she had to use the restroom, to which Booker told her to wait until he finished cleaning it.
That same bathroom was the focus of Michigan State Police forensic scientist Toni Grusser's findings.
Grusser showed prosecutors pictures of multiple locations within Booker's apartment that tested positive for blood. She testified that the lab was unable to confirm who the blood belongs to and how long it's been there.
The next preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 22.