The popular Detroit neurosurgeon who was shot dead in his lovingly-restored Detroit mansion earlier this year previously fretted about living alone, neighbors say.
Dr. Devon Hoover, 53, often hosted parties at his $1.2 million home in the city’s historic Boston-Edison district, but also worried about his safety on the sprawling, nine-bedroom property, neighbors told PEOPLE.
“You’re just always cautious,” neighbor James Murphy said.
“Being in that type of home, living alone and so forth, you always just had to have your eyes open. ‘Be careful. Be careful outside. Pay attention,” was just something we’d always say to one another.”
Hoover’s body was discovered naked and wrapped in sheets in his attic on April 23, after a relative asked local police to conduct a welfare check.
An autopsy revealed he had been shot twice in the back of the head.
His car was found elsewhere in Detroit one day later.
“He was this very kind and gentle soul,” neighbor Jeanne Wyatt, 75, told PEOPLE of the neck and back specialist, who practiced at Ascension Michigan Hospital.
“He was a very successful neurosurgeon, but had no airs. Just a real down-to-earth person and very involved in the community. It’s a terrible loss for all of us.”
Police identified a person of interest in the case within a week of Hoover’s death – but subsequently released the individual after they were arrested on unrelated charges.
Almost two months later, there have been no further arrests.
“This is not a random act,” James E. White, chief of the Detroit Police Department told PEOPLE of Hoover’s killing, which authorities have also described as a “domestic incident.”
“We are confident that our victim and the perpetrator knew each other,” White added.
Long before he rose to the top ranks of the medical profession, Hoover spent his childhood on his family’s dairy farm in Elkhart, Indiana, PEOPLE said.
As the fourth of seven siblings, he remained close with his family after leaving town to complete his medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine, and later a residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Hoover was going to visit his family on the weekend he was killed, PEOPLE reported.
His mother, Lauretta Jean Hoover, died at age 80 just four days after her only son was killed, her obituary indicates.
Hoover balanced his dedication to his family with active involvement in the Boston-Edison community, where he was known for his interest in art and antiques and for hosting frequent parties.
“He had a very good eye for décor and restoration,” Wyatt told PEOPLE.
“Anytime he got a new piece of artwork or antique, he would invite us over for wine so that we could see them or the things that he’d done to the house. He did this so we could all share in the glory of helping our old houses come back to life.
“He opened his house up for many house and garden tours and fundraising events.”
Former patients also remember Hoover’s compassionate bedside manner. He was known for performing pro bono operations on those who could not afford treatment, PEOPLE said.
“He was amazing,” patient Sheryl Leaver told the outlet, recalling how Hoover operated on her severely arthritic back in 2021 and 2022.
“I woke up the next morning and I didn’t have pain anymore,” she said of the second operation.
Another patient, Eric Kreutzkamp, said Hoover gave him his quality of life back after treating him for spinal pain last year.
“I literally broke down in his office crying because I didn’t even know what to do,” he remembered.
“I couldn’t even walk. He said, ‘We’re going to fix you. You’re in good hands.’ If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be walking again. He was kind of a miracle worker.”
As of Thursday, police have not elaborated on the motive for Hoover’s killing or his whereabouts in the days before the murder.
He notably missed an errand to pick up flowers at Eastern Market on April 22, PEOPLE said, citing a post from the Justice for Dr. Devon Hoover Facebook page.
Hoover typically bought an arrangement at the store every Saturday, florist Sara Dougherty wrote, but failed to come by the day before his body was found.
“The last Saturday I saw him was on April 15,” she explained.
“He and a friend went to a nearby antique store then came back to get his arrangement. Later on, he called and said he was going home the following weekend and wouldn’t be coming in.”
