Judge orders decades in prison for killer in Henderson decapitation case

A woman convicted of killing her on-and-off boyfriend, whose body was found decapitated, was ordered to spend 28 years to life in prison Thursday.

Jurors found Devyn Michaels, 47, guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon after a November trial that was frequently sensational and bizarre.

Michaels was married to the son of Johnathan Willette, the 46-year-old man who was killed and whose body was discovered in his mother’s Henderson house, decapitated, in August 2023. A medical examiner testified that the decapitation occurred after Willette’s death.

Investigators never located the head or murder weapon.

Willette’s father said after court that he was satisfied with the punishment District Judge Tierra Jones ordered, though he had requested a life without parole sentence.

“Justice was served for all,” said James Willette, who also goes by JC Willette.

Jurors learned that Michaels admitted to police that she was giving Willette a back massage when she hit him in the head with an object and he went limp. Prosecutors said she admitted to the murder but minimized the confession by saying he continued to breathe.

A detective had also testified outside the presence of jurors that Michaels indicated she disposed of the head in the trash.

During the trial, defense lawyer Robert Draskovich suggested Deviere Willette, Willette’s son and Michaels’ husband, committed the crime. Deviere Willette denied involvement in the killing of his father.

Draskovich argued during the sentencing that Michaels previously led a good life. He alluded to “unwanted sexual advances” before the killing, which Willette’s father denied. Draskovich asked the judge to consider redemption.

“At worst, what we have here is a conviction based on an impulse and then perhaps bad actions that occurred following that,” he said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani said Michaels was an example of someone who functioned relatively normally, then “committed such an extreme act of evil when she did commit a crime that you have to put her on the far end of the spectrum of evil.”

He questioned whether someone like Michaels should be free again, even decades in the future.

“I would just urge you to think about what it must have taken for her to do what she did,” Giordani told the judge, adding that there is “overwhelming evidence” of Michaels’ guilt.

Michaels previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a deal that specified a sentence of 15 years to life in prison but withdrew her plea after insisting she could prove her innocence.

Michaels spoke briefly and quietly during her sentencing.

“I just want them to get their, at least part of their anger out,” she said, apparently referring to Willette’s family. “I know no matter what I say, they’re still going to feel the same way.”

Willette’s father said that his family would continue to experience an ongoing sense of loss with any sentence that Michaels received.

“We have all been given a life sentence by a woman who doesn’t respect life,” he said.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.