A male sex worker who killed a well-known Detroit neurosurgeon and then looted his finances smiled and smirked in a Wayne County courtroom as a judge ordered him to spend decades in prison.
On Friday, Judge Paul Cusick sentenced 35-year-old Desmond Burks to between 35 and 60 years in state prison for the second-degree murder of Dr. Devon Hoover, whose body was found in his Detroit mansion in April 2023.
Burks, who previously worked as a male prostitute, also received a concurrent term of 10 to 15 years for the manslaughter of 67-year-old driver Reda Saleh in a separate 2024 road-rage incident. The judge said the punishment reflected Burks' role in two violent deaths and his criminal history as a habitual offender, according to the New York Post.
During the hearing, Burks repeatedly smirked, smiled, rolled his eyes, and even waved toward the gallery as Hoover's family delivered emotional victim-impact statements describing how the killing shattered their lives.
At one point, relatives offered him a Bible while speaking about forgiveness, but observers noted that he continued to show little visible remorse. The judge called out his demeanor, saying it showed a lack of respect for the victims and the court.
Hoover, a 53-year-old neurosurgeon known in Detroit for his work and generosity, was discovered shot twice in the head, wrapped in a blood-soaked carpet and hidden in an attic crawl space of his historic Boston-Edison home, ABC News reported.
Investigators said phone records and messages revealed an intimate relationship between Hoover and Burks, with evidence that Burks sometimes charged the doctor for sexual services. Prosecutors alleged that after the killing, Burks stole more than $95,000 in cash and valuables, including designer watches, and quickly spent some of the money on shopping trips.
Burks previously faced a first-degree murder charge but accepted a plea agreement last month, admitting to second-degree murder and several related offenses, including larceny over $20,000, use of a computer to commit a crime, felon in possession of a firearm, and felony firearm counts.
Despite that plea, he told the court he did not see himself as a murderer and claimed he had not intended to kill Hoover, comments the judge rejected before imposing sentence. Prosecutors and family members said the lengthy term was an appropriate consequence and a measure of justice for a doctor widely regarded as a beloved figure in his community, as per Freep.
