Woman accused of killing her ex and throwing her head in the trash pleads guilty

Inset: Johnathan James Willette (Affordable Cremation & Burial Service). Background: Devyn Michaels in court (KLAS).

A Las Vegas woman accused of beheading the father of her children and throwing his head in the trash has pleaded guilty.

Devyn Michaels, 46, pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Johnathan James Willette, 46. She will be eligible for parole after 15 years, local CBS affiliate KLAS reported. Online court records show she made her confession on Tuesday. The shocking case came to light when the victim's mother discovered the headless body smoking from a mixture of bleach and ammonia.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal detailed the case, citing a police report describing the crime at a residence in the 2000 block of Pala Dura Drive after Willette's mother called police and said she found him “wrapped in blankets and covered in blood.”

“Johnathan's head had been severed from the body and was not observed to be in the room,” the arrest report said, according to the newspaper.

Local Fox affiliate KVVU reported that police smelled chemicals and saw smoke coming from the body, suggesting it had been doused with bleach and ammonia.

Willette's head was never found. Prosecutors believe the defendant took it to her Las Vegas home and threw it in the trash, where it was picked up by garbage collectors and taken to a landfill, KLAS reported.

Police said the victim was the suspect's on-again, off-again boyfriend. The victim's mother reportedly told police Michaels was Willette's ex and they were trying to get back together.

Michaels was also married to Willette's son, the Review-Journal reported. She told police she married Willette's son so they could “help each other.” The son told investigators he and Michaels married “so he could help Devyn with her health issues,” the newspaper reported.

As the Review-Journal reported, Michaels and Willette also have two daughters together.

Police used a lie detector test after finding the victim's keys, wallet and bloody phone in Willette's home, KLAS reported.

In that interview, she said the victim “manhandled” her and made a child “shower in front of him.” She allegedly said she hit him in the head with a stick while they were in bed, causing his arms to go limp, the arrest report states.

“Devyn explained that she did not want to kill Johnathan and only wanted to hurt him enough to get him to the hospital because she wanted him out of the way so she could figure out what to do with her children,” the report said.

The victim's mother told police that a cleaver was missing from the kitchen, the newspaper reported.

Two days after the murder, Michaels appeared in court on child abuse charges, including her 8-year-old daughter, KLAS reported. At the hearing, she told the judge she did not abuse, but was still sentenced to a year of probation after the child told a teacher she was being abused at home.

“[The employee] stated that [the child] “She went to her teacher and told her that she had been beaten at home by her stepfather,” the documents say, KLAS reported. “[The child] also told the teacher that her mother had beaten her the week before for drinking apple juice.”

Michaels was arrested on Aug. 15 for Willette's murder, Henderson police said in a news release.

Willette's obituary states that the father of two was well known on the Las Vegas Strip, where he sold timeshares for 20 years.

“Johnathan loved to talk to everyone, especially at work,” his obituary said. “He was known as someone who would help you out in difficult times by giving you a job and moving you or your belongings even at short notice.”

According to the prison's online booking records, Michaels is scheduled to be sentenced on October 31.

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Woman accused of killing her ex and throwing her head in the trash pleads guilty

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