Ex-boyfriend of missing Warren woman arraigned on murder charges
(CBS DETROIT) - The ex-boyfriend of a missing Warren mother of two has been charged in connection with her murder.
DeAndre Booker, 32 of Roseville, was arraigned Friday morning on first-degree murder charges in the disappearance of Ashley Elkins, who has been missing for nearly a month. Booker was also charged with tampering with evidence, mutilation of a dead body and concealing the death of an individual.
He pleaded not guilty and was remanded with no bond to the Macomb County Jail.
Elkins was last seen leaving her home in Warren on Jan. 2. She was reported missing the following day, on Jan. 3.
On Jan. 7, investigators searched Booker's apartment, where an officer testified Friday to finding a large amount of blood in the bathroom. The officer claims DNA testing confirmed the blood was from Elkins.
The following day, Booker was charged with lying to police and was subsequently denied bond.
Investigators say the trash bin from the Hampton Court Apartments led investigators to use the GPS from the garbage trucks serving the area. That information led them to the Pine Tree Acres Landfill in Lenox Township.
The landfill search effort started the following week, with dozens of officers on the scene. But after no luck, the search was called off a week later.
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido couldn't reveal whether or not they know how Elkins died, but between the blood evidence they found in the bathroom, the lack of any communication coming from Elkins and the inactivity of her banking history since she disappeared, that was enough to bring a first-degree murder charge against Booker.
Lucido says there are 40 years of precedent that makes him confident they can get a conviction even if they never find Elkins' body.
"This county has seen, at least since I've been practicing almost 40 years, four cases that I'm very familiar with that have had no body and have had total conviction. Because there's no other way sometimes to explain it when you don't have a body except all of the evidence that's been accumulating," Lucido said.
"It's hard to have complete closure without her remains," said family spokesperson Maurice Morton. "And until there is a conviction, you can't have closure today. You can just look forward to that day coming."
Booker has a probable cause on Feb. 5 and a preliminary examination on Feb. 12.
