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Devyn Michaels was sentenced to a total of 28 years to life on January 8, 2026, after a Clark County jury convicted her of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in the death of Johnathan Willette in Henderson, Nevada.

Willette, 46, lived in the Las Vegas area of southern Nevada. On August 7, 2023, his mother found his body inside her home on the 2000 block of Pala Dura Drive. His head had been severed and was not at the scene. It has never been recovered. A chemical smell was noted in the house, and the body had been partially burned with chemicals. State forensic witnesses testified that a blow to the head killed Willette and that a knife and mechanical saw were used to decapitate him after death.

Michaels and Willette were former partners who had two daughters together but did not live together. Reports at the time said they had been planning to move in together for the children. Michaels, who had worked in adult films, was married to Willette's adult son from an earlier relationship, Deviere Willette. She said they had married years earlier so he could act as her spouse for administrative purposes connected to her medical care. Prosecutors told the jury that conflict over custody of the daughters motivated Michaels.

During a Henderson Police Department interview, Michaels told detectives she had been rubbing Willette's back as he lay on a bed and struck him on the head with a wooden stick, after which his arms went limp. She said she intended only to injure him badly enough to put him in hospital, not to kill him. Michaels alleged that Willette had abused her and tried to get her to perform a sexual act. She also made an allegation of inappropriate conduct toward a child. She did not admit to decapitating him and said she could not remember what happened afterward. When a detective suggested she may have killed him without remembering it, she said that was very possible. A detective later testified that Michaels indicated the head had been put in the trash. The arrest report set out those statements, and Henderson police arrested Michaels on August 15, 2023, on a charge of open murder.

Michaels initially pleaded guilty to second-degree murder under an agreement that would have made her eligible for parole after 15 years. On July 17, 2025, she withdrew the plea before District Judge Tierra Jones and told the court she would not stop fighting to prove her innocence. Jones warned that Michaels faced a heavier sentence at trial and allowed the withdrawal.

At the trial that followed, the defense argued that Deviere Willette, Michaels' husband, was responsible for the killing. He has not been charged. On November 14, 2025, after a trial of about two weeks and roughly two hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Michaels of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon.

Jones sentenced Michaels, 47 at sentencing, to 20 years to life for murder plus a consecutive 8 to 20 years for the deadly weapon enhancement, with credit for about two years already served. Michaels briefly addressed the court, and Willette's father, James Willette, spoke at the hearing. No appeal was reported.

The video is a police interview-room recording that runs about 78 minutes. It presents the interview itself and opens with a short narrated introduction naming the people involved.

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Part 2 of 2 of the recording described above.