Aytes made her film debut in the 2004 comedy White Chicks, as Denise Porter.[6] She is also known for playing Lisa Breaux in Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, where Aytes plays a woman who is caught in a relationship in which her fiancé (Blair Underwood) beats and threatens her.[7] In 2006, she played Nicole Jamieson in the test pilot episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne. She also provides the voice for Rochelle in Left 4 Dead 2. In 2007, Aytes guest starred in the Fox series Bones as Felicia Saroyan, the sister of Lab Supervisor, Cam. She starred in the independent film Trick 'r Treat. She played role Leigh Barnthouse in the 2007 Fox series Drive. She also played Tara Kole in the TV show NCIS from CBS. Aytes also appeared in the TNT drama series Dark Blue in 2010.
Aytes was a regular cast member in the ABC drama series The Forgotten from 2009 to 2010, playing Detective Grace Russell who teams up with a volunteer group, including former Chicago police detective, Christian Slater, to solve cases of missing or unidentified homicide victims.[8] From 2010 to 2011, she had a recurring role in the ABC series Detroit 1-8-7 as prosecutor Alice Williams, until her character was murdered in the episode "Key to the City", which aired on January 11, 2011.[9] In 2011, Aytes guest starred in three episodes as Amber James, the former girlfriend of Keith Watson, in the seventh season of ABC comedy-drama Desperate Housewives.[9] She also starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom Work It in 2012.[10]
In 2012, Aytes was cast as one of the four leads, along with Alyssa Milano, Yunjin Kim and Jes Macallan, in the ABC drama series Mistresses about the lives of four female friends and their involvement in an array of illicit and complex relationships.[11][12] The series premiered on June 3, 2013. Aytes played the role of Perri "Pebbles" Reid in the 2013 biographical film CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story about the R&B and hip hop musical trio TLC.[13][14] In 2013, she also began appearing as Dr. Savannah Hayes, the girlfriend of Special Agent Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) on the CBS crime thriller series Criminal Minds. When Moore moved to S.W.A.T., her character was written out. However, Aytes was then cast as his character Hondo's girlfriend Nichelle on S.W.A.T. as well, starting in season 3.[15] She was promoted to the main cast in season 6.
In 2024, Aytes was cast as a lead in the CBS medical-mystery series Watson, playing Mary Morstan (Dr. Watson's ex-wife) from the Sherlock Holmes stories. As a result of her casting, she is expected to depart as a regular on S.W.A.T., although she may remain as a guest star.[16]
