Detroit neurosurgeon Devon Hoover loved to entertain.
At his “meticulously” restored and maintained historic home in an upscale part of town, he regularly hosted opera nights, neighborhood parties, charity fundraisers and even the occasional wedding. In fact, he was so beloved by everyone who knew him—from his patients, who he’d sometimes operate on for free, to the neighbors he’d have over regularly—that his best friend, Jordan Medeiros, said he couldn’t think of a person who didn’t like Hoover.
That’s why, two-and-a-half months after Hoover was found murdered in April, wrapped in a sheet and wearing nothing but a sock, those closest to Hoover are starting to fear the police may have got a key detail about the shocking murder wrong from the jump—that Hoover was shot dead in a “domestic incident.”
“When the police say, you know, they think it was somebody he knew, what does that even mean?” Medeiros, who knew Hoover for two decades and often vacationed with him, told The Daily Beast last week. “I mean, just because there’s no sign of forced entry—just because he willingly opened his door, does not mean that it was somebody he knew, like it’s somebody close to him.”
Cops found Hoover, 53, face down in a crawl space in his attic on April 23 after his family raised the alarm when he didn’t show up to an event. He had been shot in the head twice—once through the back of his skull, once behind his right ear—and dragged into the crawl space.
Police immediately assured the public that it was likely not a random killing, and arrested a person of interest on unrelated charges five days later. However, the unidentified person was released after five days, and no new information has come out since, except an announcement of a reward for information.
In a phone call last week, Detroit police spokesperson Dayna Clark insisted police had to release the person of interest because they didn’t have enough evidence to hold them in custody any longer, but she hinted that investigators haven’t ruled out the person entirely.
“You can only hold somebody for so long. You know, it just wasn’t enough. And that’s not to say that they’re not still looking at that person,” Clark said, clarifying that she didn’t know the person’s identity herself.
The murder case “is not cold by no means,” she said.
‘If the killer knew him, then we likely know the killer’
Medeiros, who gave a statement to police in April but has received few updates since, said he personally pressed police to release more information about the killing, but they told him they were holding information back so they could validate witnesses.
He doesn’t think Hoover’s killer knew him at all. If he did, it likely wasn’t a close relationship, Medeiros said. Hoover had no known enemies, was single, and was known throughout town by patients, caterers, contractors, and scores of other people he’d interacted with but wasn’t necessarily close to.
Medeiros believes police insisted Hoover’s death was a domestic incident to “appease the public” and prevent panic—but it’s had the opposite effect in Detroit’s historic Boston-Edison District, Hoover’s neighborhood, which is filled with ritzy homes and, according to neighbors, has very little crime.
“That fact is even more upsetting because if the killer knew him, then we likely know the killer,” Jeanne Wyatt, 75, an old neighbor who remained close to Hoover, told The Daily Beast last week.
Wyatt said Hoover’s murder was shocking in itself, but was especially surprising because he’d invested in a great home security system.
Echoing countless others online, she described Hoover as a “gentle, amazing man,” who put others ahead of himself. At his work, she said, he’d convince colleagues, like anesthesiologists, to perform operations with him for free when patients couldn’t afford to pay.
At home, he’d throw extravagant parties for friends and family, and would house charity fundraisers for nearly any organization that asked—often footing the bill for catering, Wyatt said.
“He was a great physician, a great neighbor, and a really just all-around good guy,” she said. “All of his patients loved him.”
Wyatt said she’ll never forget laughing as Hoover walked his giant Mastiff through his old neighborhood—joking it often appeared the massive dog was actually walking Hoover. Other times, she’d smile and wave at Hoover as he drove by with the dog sitting in his passenger seat.
She said she’s eager for an arrest and is confident in the cops’ assessment that Hoover was killed by someone he knew.
Begging for answers
Hoover’s family didn’t respond to interview requests by The Daily Beast, but his six sisters made a poignant appeal to his killer at a press conference last week announcing an increased reward for information.
“You can choose to hide the rest of your life, but we’re really begging with you to choose the freedom of walking in the light,” Hoover’s sister, Lisa Graber, said, according to a report by Click on Detroit. “Two months ago you brought unimaginable pain to our family when you chose the evil in your own heart over the life of Devon.”
There is a combined reward of $22,500 for information that leads to an arrest in Hoover’s killing: $2,500 put up by authorities, and $20,000 raised by loved ones on GoFundMe.
Meanwhile, Clark chalked up police’s lack of updates to there not being enough confirmed information safe to release. She said police “cannot provide every detail” of their probe because it’d “compromise the investigation.”
“We have to make sure everything is correct before we come out and say something, and sometimes it takes a little bit longer than the public, or even the department, would like,” she said. “But we never withhold, we never have something and then just say ‘Oh, let’s just make the public wait while we just sit here.’”
While he’s critical of police’s comments about the supposedly “domestic” nature of the crime, Medeiros said he still supports their probe. He wished more money could’ve been raised to boost the reward, but said cops advised him that a growing reward amount might cause someone to hold out on speaking in hopes they’d eventually get a bigger amount.
Instead, Medeiros and others who knew and loved Hoover, including thousands of people who joined a Facebook group called Justice for Dr. Devon Hoover, are left to agonize over the mystery, wait for answers, and reminisce on some of their favorite memories.
Medeiros said he has too many memories to list, but recalled that Hoover always made those around him smile—often unintentionally, like the time he accidentally used the bottom of his white linen button down as a napkin during a rib dinner in Mexico, not realizing the mess he’d made until he stood up to leave.
“There would always be these ridiculous scenarios he’d get himself in,” Medeiros said. “He was just so authentically himself.”
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