She Decapitated Her Ex and Threw Head in the Trash — and She Might Be Sprung from Prison in 15 Years

A Nevada woman who pleaded guilty to murdering the father of her children — having been accused of decapitating him and throwing his head in the trash — could potentially only spend 15 years in prison.

Devyn Michaels, 45, pleaded guilty to murder with a deadly weapon on Tuesday Sept. 17, just over a year after she was arrested in Henderson, Nev., online court dockets indicate.

Michaels was arrested a week after police said the headless body of her boyfriend, Johnathan Willette, 47, was found by his mother next to bottles of ammonia and bleach on Aug. 8, 2023, according to reports from 8 News Now, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Fox 5 Las Vegas.

8 News Now reported at the time that prosecutors claimed that Michaels disposed of Willette’s head in the garbage, which was then likely taken by trash facility workers and never recovered.

Court records show that Michaels’ guilty plea was part of an agreement with prosecutors. Citing the agreement, 8 News Now reported that Michaels could be sentenced to life, but with a chance at parole in 15 years. A judge will have the final say on her sentence.

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Fox 5 previously reported, citing a police report, that Michaels told police she didn’t intend to kill Willette and only meant to hurt him enough to send him to the hospital “so she could figure out what she could do with her children.”

The outlet also reported that when Willette’s mother found his body, she discovered a meat cleaver was missing.

Willette was born on an Air Force base in Tokyo, according to his obituary. He owned a Las Vegas moving company.