Las Vegas judge sentences ex-porn star to 28 years to life for beheading ex-husband

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A former adult film star who beheaded and killed her ex-husband will serve at least 28 years in prison, a judge ruled Thursday.

In November, following a two-week trial, a jury convicted Devyn Michaels, 47, of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon for the death of 46-year-old Johnathan Willette. Michaels killed Johnathan Willette inside his Henderson home on the night of Aug. 6, 2023, beating him with a stick and then decapitating him.

Michaels, who last worked as a realtor, also uses the names Nikki Fairchild and Tracee Tavarez.

On Thursday, Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones sentenced Michaels to 28 years to life.

“I cannot deliver what the family is hoping for,” Michaels said briefly before Jones sentenced her.

Police found Johnathan Willette deceased with chemicals poured over his body. Detectives suspect Michaels threw his head in the trash in her northwest valley neighborhood. Police never recovered it.

During the trial, prosecutors played a video of Michaels telling police she was massaging Johnathan Willette in his bedroom when she hit him with an item she described as “candlestick-like.”

Michaels married Johnathan Willette in 2012 but divorced him in 2018. Michaels later married Johnathan Willette’s son, Deviere Willette, 29, although she described both as marriages of convenience, according to testimony.

Following Johnathan Willette’s murder, his father and stepmother took custody of his two children. The grandparents had never met their grandchildren and never met Michaels, they said.

“We cannot bring Johnathan back,” said Valerie Willette, Johnathan Willette’s stepmother. “God has gained an angel in heaven. We believe he is watching over us and the girls.”

“Her girls are going to die with the knowledge that she killed their father,” Johnathan Willette’s father, James “JC” Willette, said after the sentencing. “That’s where she should be. If you take somebody’s life, you shouldn’t be out running around.”

In 2024, Michaels pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge. As part of the deal, she would be eligible for parole after serving 15 years in prison. Michaels later attempted to revoke her plea, but Jones determined Michaels entered it “voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently,” documents said. During an initial sentencing hearing in July 2025, Michaels apologized and then immediately said she was innocent, sending the case to trial.

Jurors did not hear about the former deal during the trial, and Michaels never took the stand.

As the 8 News Now Investigators reported after Michaels’ arrest, Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus sentenced Michaels to one year of probation on a child abuse charge on Aug. 9, 2023, after Michaels had killed Johnathan Willette, but before her arrest. In the days before and after that hearing, police were interviewing Michaels and collecting evidence as part of their murder investigation.

During that hearing, Michaels told Holthus she was “not an abusive person.”

8 News Now Investigator David Charns can be reached at dcharns@8newsnow.com.

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