DETROIT, MICHIGAN — A Michigan man has pleaded guilty to murdering a well-known Detroit neurosurgeon, wrapping his body in a blood-soaked carpet, and hiding it inside an attic crawl space, before going on to kill another man roughly a year later, according to court proceedings.
Guilty Plea Details in Neurosurgeon’s Killing
Desmond Burks, 35, entered guilty pleas this week to multiple felony charges tied to the April 2023 killing of Dr. Devon Hoover, a 53-year-old neurosurgeon found dead inside his Detroit mansion. Burks pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, larceny of more than $20,000, using a computer to commit a crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to reporting from WDIV.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the original first-degree murder charge.
Intimate Relationship and Financial Exploitation
Kym Worthy said investigators uncovered extensive communication between Burks and Hoover prior to the killing. Authorities recovered roughly 4,000 text messages, establishing that the two men were in an intimate relationship and that Burks at times charged Hoover for sexual services.
Prosecutors said the digital evidence helped establish motive and a financial component tied to the killing.
Body Hidden in Attic of Detroit Mansion
Hoover was reported missing after he failed to return to Indiana to visit his dying mother, Lauretta Hoover, who passed away four days after his murder. A family member requested a welfare check, leading police to Hoover’s mansion in Detroit’s historic Boston-Edison neighborhood…