A Las Vegas mom who decapitated the father of her children and threw his head in the trash claimed she "only wanted to hurt him" so she could be with her kids.
On Wednesday, Devyn Michaels, 46, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the beheading of her ex, 46-year-old Johnathon Willette at the Henderson, Nevada home he shared with his mother, in August 2023, according to KLAS-TV.
As part of her plea deal, Michaels will be eligible for parole after serving a minimum of 15 years in prison.
Upon her arrest last year, Michaels confessed she first struck Willette with a wooden stick because he abused her and tried to get her to perform a sex act on him.
"Michaels stated that she did not want to kill Willette and only wanted to hurt him enough that he would have to go to the hospital because she wanted him out of the way so she could figure out what she could do with her children," the arrest report read, according to KVVU-TV.
When asked if she killed Willette, Michaels told police she could not remember, but it was "very possible."
The victim's mother told police her meat cleaver was missing from the kitchen and she found her son's headless body "wrapped up in blankets and bloody," in his bedroom, the report stated, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Ammonia and bleach were also found near his corpse.
"Johnathan's head had been severed from his body, and was not observed to be in the room."
His head was dumped in the trash, but never found, said police.
