DETROIT (WWJ) -- A man suspected of murdering a Detroit doctor has been found competent to stand trial.
Desmond Burks, 35, has been in the Wayne County Jail awaiting trial in an unrelated hit-and-run incident, but a 36th District Court judge ruled Friday that he is competent to stand trial in the shooting death of Dr. Devon Hoover.
Hoover, who worked as a neurosurgeon for Ascension Healthcare at St. John Hospital, was discovered dead in the attic of his home on April 23, 2023. Officials said the deceased 53-year-old was "facedown, wearing only socks, wrapped in a blood-soaked carpet."
An autopsy concluded that Hoover had been shot twice in the back of the head.
According to prosecutors, further investigation found that Hoover's cell phone, wallet, money, credit cards and designer watches were missing from the home — one of the city's most beautiful mansions in the Boston-Edison District.
Authorities said thousands of text messages between the two men showed that Burks and Hoover had an intimate relationship.
Burks was charged in the case last summer and underwent a psychological evaluation.
