To her family in Ohio, Kelliann Ripley was a free-spirited and loving mother, sister, and grandmother who was always ready to encourage others to chase their dreams. The 48-year-old female had moved to Sarasota, Florida, where her daughter said she was working to establish a support system with a friend while navigating struggles with sobriety and mental health. Her brother, Jason, said he prayed for her every night.
The last time her daughter, Kristen, heard from her was a text message around New Year's 2022: "Happy New Year, baby girl! I love you and I'm so proud of you."
On February 25, 2022, Kelliann’s life was cut short. Her body was discovered in a wooded area in the 1100 block of North Tamiami Trail, near the Centennial Park boat ramp in Sarasota. An autopsy the following day determined that her death was a homicide caused by blunt force trauma and manual strangulation. At the time of her death, Kelliann was experiencing homelessness. With the permission of her grieving family, who wanted the public to know who she was, the Sarasota Police Department released her name.
The investigation into Kelliann’s murder quickly gained momentum. Just over two weeks later, on March 10, the body of another woman, 59-year-old Vicky Levitch, was found near the shore of Whitaker Bayou, also along the Tamiami Trail. Police noted the "striking" similarities between the two killings; Levitch had also been brutally beaten and strangled, and like Kelliann, was experiencing homelessness. Investigators began to suspect the two murders were connected.
Detectives soon focused on William Jeffrey Devonshire, a 52-year-old man with a violent criminal history. Born in Delaware, Devonshire had a rap sheet stretching back to age 14 and had previously been convicted of murder. In 2003, he bludgeoned a man to death in Delaware, for which he was convicted of first-degree murder. For reasons that are unclear, the charge was later reduced to second-degree murder, and he was paroled in 2013, after which he moved to Florida.
On March 15, 2022, Sarasota police officers approached Devonshire, who voluntarily provided a DNA sample. Ten days later, on March 25, he was arrested in a Sarasota park on unrelated charges of trespassing and drug possession. The very next day, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed a match: Devonshire's DNA was found on evidence collected during Kelliann Ripley's autopsy. He was charged with her murder while still in custody. Police publicly named him as a "strong suspect" in Vicky Levitch's death as well.
Before he could stand trial, the case took another turn. On May 17, 2022, Devonshire suffered a medical event at the Sarasota County Jail and was hospitalized. He died in jail on June 5, 2022, from what was described as a medical-related illness. At the time of his death, investigators said they had "indisputable evidence" linking him to both murders and were in the process of writing the affidavit to charge him with Vicky Levitch's killing.
In October 2022, the investigation found its final, scientific conclusion. The FDLE confirmed that DNA belonging to Vicky Levitch was found on clothing belonging to Devonshire. "Now, thanks to DNA evidence, we know Devonshire is responsible for both homicides," said Sarasota Police Captain Johnathan Todd. With the death of the man responsible, police officially closed the murder cases of both Kelliann Ripley and Vicky Levitch.
For Kelliann's family, the resolution brought a painful form of closure. They remembered her as the sister who choreographed dance routines and the mother who loved to video chat with her grandchildren. Her daughter expressed the shock and pain of the family, saying, "Knowing the way that she was killed, and how cold it was, knowing that somebody would actually do that…it's just a shock to me." Her brother urged others to hold their loved ones close. "If you have a loved one that you haven't spoken to in a while, try to get a hold of them," he said. "Because you just don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."
