ROSEVILLE (WWJ) -- A judge and others present in 39th District Court in Roseville have been hearing and seeing new evidence in the case of a missing Warren mother who is presumed dead.
At a preliminary hearing for 32-year-old Deandre Booker, who is charged with the premeditated murder of Ashley Elkins, a Roseville Police detective testified about surveillance video from outside the Hampton Court Apartments, where Booker lived.
On the stand Friday morning, Det. Chris Moran described footage showing someone, late at night, pushing a shopping cart with something draped over it through the parking lot.
"There appeared to be something in the shopping cart that was covered, I think in a white sheet, if I recall," Moran said. "And possibly something that may have been an arm. You know, I couldn't say for absolutely certain, but it appeared to be that way.
Elkins, a 30-year-old hair stylist and mother of two, hasn't been seen or heard from since the morning of Jan. 2, when she left her home to run errands.
Prosecutors allege that Booker killed Elkins, his former girlfriend, in early January while she was at his apartment and disposed of her body.
Moran went on to say that person struggled as they put whatever that object was into a nearby dumpster.
Further investigation led to the discovery of blood in that dumpster.
"When I looked in and down, I saw what was absolutely certain to ne to be blood, from my training and experience," Moran said.
Elkins' body has not been found. A search of a landfill on 29 Mile Road in Lenox Township last winter came up empty.
Booker has been watching the hearing virtually because the judge was told he was shouting, combative and declined to get dressed for court.
WWJ's Jon Hewett reported Booker delayed the second day of testimony in his preliminary exam by refusing to cooperate in his jail cell.
Eventually, the judge ordered testimony to begin without Booker present.
After a break following Friday morning's testimony, proceeding were expected to resume Friday afternoon. The purpose of a preliminary exam is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trail in criminal case.
Hear the latest from the courtroom on WWJ. >>LISTEN LIVE
[There's an online fundraiser to help Elkins' two young sons. Get more information HERE.]