A Nevada woman is now fighting to prove her innocence in a jury trial that began this week — more than a year after she initially pleaded guilty to the 2023 killing of her former lover.
Authorities said the beheaded body of Johnathan Willette was discovered on Aug. 7, 2023, inside a Henderson, Nevada, home. According to police, Willette’s mother found his headless body near bottles of bleach and ammonia.
Police arrested Devyn Michaels, Willette’s girlfriend, about a week after the discovery. Investigators said Michaels told them she struck Willette on the head with a wooden stick after he allegedly tried to force her into a sexual act. She claimed she didn’t intend to kill him but only wanted to injure him so she could “figure out what she could do with her children” while he was hospitalized, according to FOX 5 Las Vegas.
Michaels pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year, according to court records. However, during her sentencing in July, she broke down emotionally and insisted she was innocent. Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones then allowed her to withdraw her guilty plea, according to 8 News Now.
Her jury trial — which Michaels says she hopes will clear her name — began on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
At the time of the murder, Michaels was married to Willette’s son, though the two were reportedly planning to move in together for the sake of their shared children. Michaels’ husband told investigators that the marriage was a practical arrangement intended to assist her with medical issues, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
During the current trial, jurors were shown intimate photographs of the married couple taken when Willette’s son was still a teenager, according to 8 News Now. Michaels’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, suggested that Willette’s son had a motive to kill, claiming he was jealous and resentful of his father.
“He was no longer going to be in this relationship because the dad — the dad he hated — was coming in and not only taking his home, but taking his wife,” Draskovich told the jury.
