The Worst Reaction to Getting 60 Years Prison

[00:00:00]This has to be the worst reaction to getting 60 years in prison. Essentially, this guy accepted a plea deal, admitted to taking the life of a Detroit neurosurgeon. And then he used his sentencing hearing to make one of the most absurd statements I've heard in a courtroom in a long time.

[00:00:15]>> I like to say, I'm not a not a a regular person like everybody in this room. I'm not gay as what the prosecutor want me to be. Uh not a gang member.

[00:00:28]>> Okay.

[00:00:30]my guy. After I heard that and saw the expression of his lawyer thinking he just blew up his entire plea deal, I just needed to know everything about this case because this truly was the tip of the iceberg. So, the story caught my attention after I stumbled across this court hearing where obviously this guy, he had already pleaded guilty, but he decided that the most important thing the courtroom needed to know was that he wasn't gay. My guy, this is not what you're on trial for. You're not on trial for being gay. But hey, once I started digging into what he was on trial for and how he even got there, the story um I I just had to make a video on it. But don't get me wrong, this whole story is a tragedy. But uh the stupidity involved is quite entertaining. But unfortunately, the whole story starts off with Dr. Devin Hoover, who was a well-known Detroit neurosurgeon. Let's see where it is.

[00:01:24]Did you guys know that Canada South of Detroit? Okay. Anyway, so he was a guy who spent years becoming one of the top brain surgeons in the city and he lived in a massive historic home outside of Detroit in the Boston Edison neighborhood. And he seemed to have his life pretty much figured out. And before anyone asks, yes, Boston Edison is a it's a very beautiful area. It's one of those places where you walk through it and you're like, "Wow, this place is just loaded with money." Apparently Henry Ford used to live there, if that says anything. Regardless, by April 2023, Hoover was 53 years old and he was planning a trip to Indiana to visit his mother, who was dying of cancer, which is why his family immediately knew something was wrong when he didn't show up. And families don't usually call the police just because someone's an hour late, but apparently something was not right. And meanwhile, something strange did happen in Detroit. The day before Hoover was reported missing, police responded to a complaint about a white Range Rover blocking someone's driveway.

[00:02:16]Now, that's already just an annoying way to spend your afternoon, but then police looked inside the vehicle and noticed what appeared to be blood. So, that would naturally elevate something from a parking complaint into a a little bit more serious situation. And little did we know that the SUV belonged to Dr. Devon Hoover. So, police then went to his house to check on him and nobody answered. They then noticed the back gate was open, which was also unusual, but at that point, they didn't have enough evidence to force their way inside, so they left. Then Hoover's family requested a welfare check. So police returned the next day and this time they noticed something they hadn't seen before. There appeared to be blood on the door in the back of the house.

[00:02:52]But officers then entered the home and what they found inside would shock Detroit because they found Dr. Hoover right there. And whoever took his life had apparently gone through a decent amount of effort to try to make sure nobody could find him. Because inside the home, officers eventually discovered Hoover's body wrapped in a carpet and shoved into a third floor crawl space.

[00:03:09]And whoever did all of this fired two bullets in the back of his head. So obviously any accident or medical emergency was ruled out right away. Then on top of that, his cell phone, wallet, cash, and credit cards were gone.

[00:03:20]Expensive watches were also missing. And then of course almost immediately after, fraudulent transactions started showing up on his accounts, which is, I guess, always one of the dumbest parts of these cases to me because, you know, committing a crime, that's obviously a terrible idea. But, you know, committing a and then immediately going shopping with the victim's money, that feels like a whole new level of stupidity. It's almost like uh robbing a bank but then posting a selfie from inside of the vault cuz you're just leaving the investigators a massive trail of breadcrumbs hoping they somehow just decide not to follow them. So he went through all of this trouble of like hiding the doctor in a rug in a thirdf flooror crawl space to then take his credit card and go on a shopping spree at the mall. Hello. But regardless, at first police still had a big problem.

[00:04:02]They know what happened, but they just didn't know exactly who did it. Or at least they didn't have enough evidence to prove it. So, while the crime itself was awful, the thing that would really mess the whole investigation up is the fact that Dr. Devon Hoover's personal life was very different from what it first appeared, but apparently it didn't take too long for the detectives to keep coming back to the same name, a 34year-old Detroit man named Desmond Burks. So, at this point, if you're imagining some longtime friend, co-orker, former patient, or maybe a business partner, no, that's not where the story is going. Because the relationship between Hoover and Burks was something very different. And this is where the story takes a turn that explains why the investigation ended up taking more than a year. Because according to investigators, the two men, they knew each other extremely well. In fact, when detectives started digging through Hoover's phone records, um they found roughly 4,000 text messages. So clearly, these people were talking. And prosecutors would later argue that the messages showed the two men have been involved intimately for years and that Burks would sometimes charge Hoover for um encounters together. And I guess if you're wondering whether that came to a surprise to people around Hoover, the answer appears to be yes. So, one of the reasons investigators said this case took so long was because many witnesses were reluctant to talk about the relationship. Prosecutors described the situation as sensitive and personal, which apparently made getting people to help them a whole lot more difficult.

[00:05:26]And honestly, I mean, I can kind of see why. Like, imagine being a detective trying to solve a and every new piece of evidence somehow makes the situation even more complicated and awkward because at first it just looked like a robbery that went really bad and then it looked like a robbery involving someone who actually knew the victim. Then it started looking like a robbery involving someone the victim was romantically involved with. And that's when the digital evidence started piling up. So investigators found phone data that placed Hoover's cell phone at the same area as Burks after the crime. So surveillance footage then showed someone parking Hoover's Range Rover where it was later discovered. And apparently that person was carrying a backpack and walking with a noticeable limp, which is important because Burks was apparently known to have been recovering from a gunshot wound to his hip around the same time. And the problem for Burks was that this wasn't the only thing investigators were finding. Because when police eventually searched properties connected to him, they recovered expensive watches that belonged to Hoover, including one watch that Hoover had purchased literally the day before his life was taken. So by the summer of 2024, prosecutors believe they had a tight case. I guess the only problem is it had already been over a year since Hoover's life was taken. And during that whole year, something else happened. Something that would land Desmond Burks back into jail long before he was even charged for the crime against Dr. Hoover. And this is just crazy because one would think that, you know, if you're currently being investigated for a crime, the goal would probably be to avoid drawing any additional attention to yourself. But, uh, that was apparently not the route that Desmond Burks chose. Because while investigators were still building their case, Burks found himself at the center of an entirely separate case. Because on April 17, 2024, nearly a year after Dr. Hoover's life was taken. Burks was driving in Detroit when another driver, 67-year-old Rita Salet, accidentally bumped into the back of his vehicle. And let's be honest, you know, getting rearended, that's annoying. Nobody enjoys it. Most people handle it by exchanging insurance information and then spending 6 months arguing with Progressive or something like that. Who knows? But that is not what happened there. Instead, the two men got out of their vehicles and began arguing. Berts then punched Sai and left them lying in the street. Sai then suffered a severe head injury and was taken to the hospital. Then about 3 weeks later, he lost his life. And just like that, Burks found himself facing a homicide charge in a completely different case. And at this point, I mean, they still hadn't even charged him with Dr. Hoover's homicide. So, um, clearly things aren't looking good for the guy. Regardless though, they believe that Burks was involved and had spent months gathering evidence, but they were still trying to build a case strong enough to survive trial. And then suddenly, you know, the same guy they're investigating for one homicide is arrested in connection to another one. So by May of 2024, Burks is sitting in jail on a $1 million bond for the whole SA case. And a few months later, prosecutors finally made the move. In August of 2024, more than 15 months after Dr. Hoover was found in his home, Wayne County prosecutor Kim Worthy announced charges against Desmond Burks.

[00:08:17]According to prosecutors, the investigation had stretched across multiple states, multiple countries, dozens of officers, thousands of messages, and mountains of digital evidence and more than a year of work.

[00:08:26]And I guess the real question was whether Burks would face them to prove it at trial. So for nearly 2 years, that appeared to be the plan. Burks pleaded not guilty. His attorneys challenged the evidence. There were hearings, delays, competency questions, preliminary examinations, and enough court appearances to make everyone involved wonder if this case was actually ever going to get a jury. And at least from the defense perspective, there was at least one argument they kept coming back to. The evidence was largely circumstantial. Now, circumstantial evidence is one of those phrases that gets thrown around a lot in true crime cases because people hear it and they think it means weak evidence. So, I guess to explain a little bit, if your fingerprints are on the cookie jar and there's uh chocolate chips on your face and you're standing over an empty plate, um that's all circumstantial evidence and it's not really looking great for your defense if you're being accused of eating the last cookie. But Burke's attorneys maintained there was no direct evidence showing him actually pulling the trigger here. And eventually, the case was then set for trial. So, by January of 2026, jury selection was underway and the Hoover family was preparing to sit through weeks of testimony. Prosecutors were then preparing to present years worth of investigative work, but then at the last possible moment, Burks accepted a plea deal. Just like that, after years of denying everything, he pleaded guilty to secondderee murder. He also pleaded guilty to lararseny, using a computer to commit a crime, weapons charges, and admitted responsibility in the separate Rita Salet case. And the deal allowed him to avoid the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison without parole on the original first-degree charge. So, what changed? Did he suddenly have a change of heart? Only Burks knows the answer to that honestly.

[00:09:58]But after years of saying that prosecutors had the wrong guy, he was now standing in court admitting guilt, which honestly should have just brought the whole story to conclusion. You know, the family, they could avoid a trial.

[00:10:09]The court could move on to sentencing.

[00:10:11]But then the hearing came and before Burks ever got a chance to speak. The courtroom spent nearly an hour listening to members of Hoover's family describe what the crime had done to them. And honestly, some of those statements were just heartbreaking because remember, Hoover's family wasn't just dealing with this crime. His mother was also dying of cancer at the exact same time. Several family members talked about how they expected to gather around their mother's bedside together, only to find themselves planning two funerals the same week, one for the doctor and one for their mother. And again, family members talked about forgiveness.

[00:10:42]>> Desmond, I forgive you. I will not hold bitterness and hatred in my heart toward you for the evil you have done. My wish for you is that you can know Jesus. He says in the Bible that anyone that commits sin is a slave to sin.

[00:10:55]>> Essentially, they don't want to spend the rest of their lives carrying hatred around with them. So, one sibling told Burks they forgave him. Another said seeing Burks's mother crying in court changed something in their heart. And at one point, they even brought Burks a Bible, which no matter what your religious beliefs are, it's a pretty incredible thing to do for a person who uh took the life of your brother. And the entire time all this was happening, people started noticing Burks's behavior. According to courtroom observers, he was smiling, smirking, rolling his eyes, picking at his nails, throwing peace signs, waving the whole nine yards.

[00:11:25]>> I like to say, I'm not a not a a regular person like everybody in this room.

[00:11:31]And those are the two main corrections I want to make in the pre-sentence report as far as information.

[00:11:38]>> I mean, why would you ever do something like this? It's like, come on, dude.

[00:11:41]What you did is absolutely disgusting.

[00:11:43]Why do you keep on having to double down on that? I imagine somewhere in that courtroom, his lawyers were experiencing the legal equivalent of watching your toddler sprint towards a swimming pool.

[00:11:52]Like, you know what's going to happen.

[00:11:53]There's just nothing you can do to stop it. But finally, Burks got his chance to address the court and somehow things just got even worse because he immediately started talking about himself.

[00:12:02]>> I like to say, I'm not a not a regular person like everybody in this room. I'm not gay as what the prosecutor want me to be. Uh yeah, that's a bold opening when you're standing there after pleading guilty to clearly the dude's priorities are completely messed up. I said this earlier, but you're not going to jail for being in a relationship with a man, sir. The prosecution is not going to charge you for that. He knows that, right? But I guess the opinion of the random people sitting in the courtroom means more to him than uh I don't know, his life outcome now because the prosecutor and the judge are the ones with his life in their hands. Like do you think he took that last minute plea deal just so he got the chance to tell everyone that he's not gay? It's like fine, I'll plead guilty to as long as they know that I didn't have sexual relations with that man. Excuse me, what? Every day on this channel, I question people's priorities. And this is one of those ones that just has me lost. Also, my guy, I am so sorry to tell you, 4,000 text messages, that's probably a relationship. I'm not saying what kind, but it's definitely a close one. Regardless though, Burks himself described Hoover being kind of like a boyfriend during his police interviews.

[00:13:05]So, um, did he just not expect that to be brought up in court? And the entire reason the relationship kept coming up was because it was central to how investigators believed the two men knew each other. Like nobody was standing outside the courthouse conducting some sort of like weird I don't know sexual census. Like that just doesn't happen.

[00:13:21]Like the courtroom wasn't gathered there for some weird special episode of my like the issue was that one of the people in this case had their life taken away and the other dude had just pleaded guilty to doing it. And somehow Burke seems convinced that the real injustice here was, I guess, the public not understanding his dating history. Excuse me, what? That's kind of like showing up to the Titanic inquiry and saying, "Uh, before we begin, I'd just like everyone to know that I wasn't really a big fan of the dinner menu." Sir, let's focus on the boat. But I guess the more he talked, the stranger it got because after explaining that he wasn't gay, Burks moved on to explaining that he wasn't a either. Remember, he didn't lose at trial. He literally pleaded guilty. So, um, what is he on about? And again, this is voluntarily with lawyers in court pleaded guilty to so his argument essentially became, "Yes, I pleaded guilty to but I would like everyone to know that I'm not gay and I'm not a okay then." Like the victim's family had spent a morning talking about grief, forgiveness, faith, and healing.

[00:14:18]Burks just spent it trying to beat the allegations that at this point weren't even the reason that he was in the courtroom because again, he already pleaded guilty. And eventually the judge had enough. He delivered the line that basically ended the entire discussion.

[00:14:30]Quite frankly, you are a sir.

[00:14:31]>> All I have to say is quite frankly, you are a you are a you pled under oath to that and that's your sentence. Thank you everyone.

[00:14:40]>> And just like that, the judge sentenced Desmond Burks to 35 to 60 years in prison for taking the life of Dr. Hoover along with the additional time connecting for the passing of Reita Salet. Which means the dude who spent years denying responsibility, accepting a plea deal to avoid the possibility of life without parole, and then used his sentencing hearing to argue about everything except the reason he was there, will likely spend most or the rest of his life behind bars. So that was the story of a man who looked at his sentencing and somehow decided the biggest misunderstanding that needed to be corrected wasn't the part, it was the fact that he's not gay. And the craziest part of all this is no one would even be asking that question if he didn't take the life of the doctor. But if you want an even crazier deep dive, this video uh shows an influencer realizing she's actually going to get life in prison.

[00:15:22]I'll be linking it here and in the comment section down below. But without further ado, I'll see you guys in tomorrow's video. Peace.