Ashley Elkins Murder: Evidence, Charges, and No-Body Trial

Ashley Elkins, a 30-year-old mother of two from Warren, Michigan, disappeared on January 2, 2025, after arriving at the Roseville apartment of her ex-boyfriend, DeAndre Booker. Her body has never been found. Booker, 33, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder and four other felonies in the Ashley Elkins murder case, is being held without bond in the Macomb County Jail, and is scheduled to stand trial on November 10, 2026.

What Happened on January 2, 2025

Elkins ran a home salon and lived with family in Warren. She left home around 8:00 a.m. on January 2, 2025.¹ Her family received text messages from her phone saying she was going to a beauty supply store, and then the phone went dark.² Her mother, Monika Elkins, said the last text she received simply read “Amen,” and Ashley stopped answering calls, which Monika described as “unlike her.”³

Monika tracked the phone to the Hampton Court Apartments on Pinehurst Street in Roseville, where Booker lived.² Surveillance video from the complex showed Ashley arriving but never leaving. A welfare check on January 4 found Booker’s apartment door ajar with traces of blood inside.¹ Ashley’s grey Chevy Malibu turned up on January 7, a few miles away near the Golf Manor Apartments on Little Mack Avenue.⁴ Booker was arrested in Flint on January 8, initially on a charge of lying to a police officer during a violent crime investigation.⁵

What Investigators Found

Blood Throughout the Apartment

Roseville Officer Shane Nabozny testified that the bathroom looked recently cleaned but still held blood drops on the bathtub, walls, and vanity base, with smears in a hallway and closet. Assistant Prosecutor Carmen DeFranco described a “large amount” of Ashley’s blood throughout the bathroom.⁶ Michigan State Police DNA testing matched the blood to Ashley.⁷ Forensic scientist Toni Grusser later testified that multiple areas of the apartment tested positive for blood, though the lab could not determine when it was left.⁸

Items in the Drain

On January 30, 2025, police worked with a plumbing company to pull drains from the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, and bathtub. Inside the bathtub drain, investigators recovered a clump of hair, a corroded suspected bullet fragment, and an earring.⁹

Booker’s Phone

Prosecutors say Booker’s own phone records the crime. On the day Ashley was last seen, he ordered heavy-duty trash bags, bleach, and latex gloves through DoorDash. In the preceding month, his searches included queries about a gun silencer and ways to make an ex miss you after a breakup. After she disappeared, according to police testimony, he searched for routes out of Michigan, “what to do while on the run,” how to beat a polygraph, whether blood is traceable, and how to delete his Google search history.¹⁰ Other queries on the phone asked about shooting a gun through a pillow and whether a phone can be tracked when turned off.¹¹

The Shopping Cart and the Dumpster

Roseville Police Detective Chris Moran testified about surveillance video from outside the Hampton Court Apartments showing a person pushing a shopping cart across the parking lot late at night. Something in the cart was covered with what looked like a white sheet. Moran said he could see what appeared to be an arm, though he “couldn’t say for absolutely certain.” The person struggled to lift the load into a nearby dumpster. When investigators later examined that dumpster, Moran said he was “absolutely certain” he found blood.¹²

The Landfill Search

The dumpster evidence pointed police to the Pine Tree Acres Landfill in Lenox Township, on the theory that Ashley’s remains had gone out with the complex’s regular trash pickup.¹³ Roughly 14 agencies searched a 6.5-acre section using drones and cadaver dogs from January 13 through January 19, 2025.¹⁴ The search ended without recovering her remains.¹⁵ Roseville Police Chief Mitch Berlin said investigators felt “very defeated,” though other material from the site remained under review.⁵

The Niece’s Testimony

Payne Barksdale, Booker’s adopted niece, testified that Booker asked her in January to move a car he described as belonging to a “co-worker” or “friend,” telling her police were “hot in that area” and that she should drive because she had a valid license. She said she did not know the car was Ashley’s. When she came back to his apartment and tried to use the bathroom, she said Booker told her to wait until he finished cleaning it.¹⁶

The Charges

On January 31, 2025, the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office charged Booker with four additional felonies on top of the earlier lying-to-police charge:¹⁷

First-degree premeditated murder, a life felony punishable by life without parole.
Tampering with evidence, a 10-year felony.
Disinterment or mutilation of a dead body, a 10-year felony.
Concealing the death of an individual, a 5-year felony.

At arraignment in Roseville District Court, Judge Alyia Hakim denied bond.¹⁷ Both sides acknowledged in court that Booker had no prior civilian criminal record. He is a former U.S. Army service member who received a less-than-honorable discharge after going AWOL in 2017, and while serving in 2016 he had been charged with larceny and possession of fake identification documents.¹⁸

Prosecuting a Murder Without a Body

Because Ashley’s remains have never been found, prosecutors are building a “no-body” case. Under Michigan’s corpus delicti rule, they must prove, independent of any confession, that a death occurred and that it was caused by criminal agency; a body is not required, and the elements can be shown by a preponderance of the evidence. Michigan courts addressed this in People v. Modelski (1987), where a conviction was upheld based on the victim’s unexplained disappearance, the defendant’s motive, and conduct suggesting murder.¹⁹

The prosecution’s theory is that Booker killed Ashley in his apartment on the morning of January 2, 2025, dumped her body in a trash bin at an apartment complex two buildings away, and later enlisted his niece to abandon Ashley’s car at a separate location.⁴ The blood evidence, drain items, surveillance video, Booker’s purchases and searches, and Barksdale’s testimony form the circumstantial spine of that case.

Where the Case Stands

The preliminary examination ran over four days in Roseville’s 39th District Court before Judge Joseph F. Boedeker, on August 6, 8, 15, and 22, 2025.²⁰ Defense attorney Robbie Lang argued that officers entered the apartment on January 3 without a warrant, found nothing, and thereby tainted the later search that documented the blood, contending the scene had been contaminated over a 24- to 36-hour window.²¹ On January 7, 2026, Judge Boedeker ruled there was enough evidence to bind Booker over on all five charges.

Booker was arraigned in Macomb County Circuit Court before Judge Joseph Toia on January 22, 2026.²⁰ The Center for Forensic Psychiatry issued a report on May 20, 2026, finding him mentally competent to stand trial. Both sides stipulated to the findings at a June 3, 2026, pretrial conference, and Judge Toia adopted the report.²²

Booker remains held without bond at the Macomb County Jail. A pretrial conference is set for October 26, 2026, with trial scheduled to begin November 10, 2026, at the circuit court in Mount Clemens.²³ A conviction for first-degree premeditated murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

1
FOX 2 Detroit. Ashley Elkins Murder Suspect Returns to Court
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ClickOnDetroit. Full Timeline: Mysterious Disappearance of 30-Year-Old Macomb County Woman
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CBS News Detroit. Suspect in Court in Ashley Elkins Case
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Macomb Daily. Suspect in Murder of Ashley Elkins Found To Be Mentally Competent To Stand Trial
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Macomb Daily. Ex-Boyfriend Expected To Be Charged for Elkins Slaying
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Detroit News. Roseville Man Accused of Killing Ex Found Competent To Stand Trial
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Audacy. Ex-Boyfriend of Missing Warren Mom Ashley Elkins Found Competent for Trial in Her Murder
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CBS News Detroit. Evidence at Preliminary Hearing in Ashley Elkins Case
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ClickOnDetroit. The 3 Items Found in Bathtub Drain at Ex-Boyfriend’s Apartment in Ashley Elkins Murder Case
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FOX 2 Detroit. Ashley Elkins Murder: Ex-Boyfriend Competent To Stand Trial
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C&G Newspapers. Evidence Presented Against Suspect Charged With Murder in Disappearance of Ashley Elkins
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Audacy. Roseville Cop Testifies About Possible Body in Shopping Cart
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ClickOnDetroit. Everything We Know About Week-Long Search for Ashley Elkins at Macomb County Landfill
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WXYZ. Police End Third Day of Landfill Search for Missing Warren Mom
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ClickOnDetroit. Search for Ashley Elkins at Macomb County Landfill Called Off
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WXYZ. Lead Detective, Suspect’s Adopted Niece Testify in Ashley Elkins Case Preliminary Exam
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Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office. DeAndre Booker Arraigned on First Degree Murder and Other Charges
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FOX 2 Detroit. Ashley Elkins Disappearance: Ex-Boyfriend Now Facing Murder Charge
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Michigan Courts. Evidence Benchbook – Section: Confessions
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Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office. Ex-Boyfriend of Missing Warren Woman Bound Over for Trial on All Charges
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Detroit News. Attorney of Man Accused of Killing Ex Questions Police About Apartment Searches
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Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office. Ex-Boyfriend of Missing Warren Woman Competent To Stand Trial on Charges
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ClickOnDetroit. Court Rules Roseville Murder Suspect DeAndre Booker Fit for Trial in Death of Ashley Elkins