Ashley Elkins disappearance: Judge denies lower bond for ex-boyfriend
Booker, De’Andre (Macomb County Jail)
FOX 2, Roseville, Mich.Despite acknowledging that the bond is unusual for the offense he faces, the judge refused to reduce it in light of the case’s circumstances.
Earlier this month, 32-year-old De’Andre Booker was accused of lying to police about Elkins’ disappearance. He showed up for a probable cause conference on Wednesday, but it was postponed until the next month.
Ex-boyfriend charged in Elkins’ disappearance
The backstory
After police raided Booker’s Roseville apartment on January 9, he was taken into custody and charged.
Authorities claim that… He was accused of lying about his location.
Booker’s internet searches following Elkins’ disappearance, according to the prosecutor who appeared in court for Booker’s arraignment, indicate that he was preparing to leave Michigan.
Booker is charged with planning to flee Michigan while in Flint by researching out-of-state routes.
De’Andre Booker reportedly ran away to Flint after his ex-girlfriend Ashley Elkins vanished, where he looked for the quickest ways to go to Ohio.
According to the prosecution, he also looked into whether blood can be traced, how to evade a polygraph, and what to do while on the run.
He apparently also searched for information on how to remove his Google search history.
These searches, according to the prosecution, indicate that Booker would run away if he were freed on bond. $250,000 cash or surety was the amount of his bond.
Next steps:
Robbie Lang, Booker’s lawyer, contended in court on Wednesday that his client’s bond is excessive given the nature of the offense for which he is accused. He claimed that rather than the charges against Booker, the bond was established based on potential future offenses.
Additionally, he contended that his client is not a flight risk, a claim refuted by the prosecution, who cited Booker’s online searches.
In order to release Booker from custody without requiring payment in advance, Lang asked that he be granted a personal recognizance bond.
Although the court, including the judge who first set the $250,000 bond, is aware of the case’s facts, Judge Joseph Boedeker stated that the bond was excessive for the offense. As a result, he turned down the request to change the bond.
Booker will return to court for a preliminary examination on February 26 and a probable cause conference on February 5.
Who is De’Andre Booker?
Booker, who was raised in Southeast Michigan, has spent the last five years residing in an apartment in Roseville at Gratiot and Frazho, according to Lang.
Information provided in court indicates that Booker has been unemployed for approximately a year. According to Lang, he was formerly employed in Ann Arbor as a certified nursing assistant.
After going missing in 2017, Booker, who had previously served in the US Army, was discharged with a less than honorable discharge. This occurred after he was accused of a number of crimes while in service the previous year, including larceny and possession of forged identification documents.
His lawyer and the prosecution argued they have no record of him having a criminal background, even though he was charged in the military.
What happened to Ashley Elkins?
The backstory
On January 2, Elkins texted her family to let them know she was on her way home after running errands. That was the last time they heard from her. But she never returned to her house in Warren.
Elkins is a mother of two, and her family says it is unusual for her to be cut off from her loved ones, particularly her sons.
“She adores her children and family. Alexis Elkins, her sister, stated that she would never simply vanish for this long.
When Ashley Elkins, 30, went out to perform some errands on January 2, she vanished.
Ashley Elkins search
We know:
Investigators then seized a dumpster from Booker’s residence in the Roseville apartment complex before moving north to Pine Tree Acres in Lenox Township.
Since Booker vanished, Elkins’ family has had suspicions about her.
Her uncle, Maurice Morton, stated, “Her mother has repeatedly stated that he threw her out with the trash.” “That’s disheartening.”
Ashley Elkins’ family announced on Monday that police have completed their search of Pine Tree Acres, a landfill in Macomb County, this weekend.
They combed through the landfill’s rubbish for days, concentrating on a roughly 6-acre plot. Police had expressed confidence that they would find clues during their examination of the landfill.
On Monday, her relatives reported that Elkins had not been located.
What is unknown to us:
It’s unclear if authorities discovered any other evidence during their investigation of Pine Tree Acres, even if Elkins’ remains were not discovered there.