LAS VEGAS—A Clark County District Court judge sentenced former adult film performer Nikki Fairchild to 28 years to life in prison on Jan. 8 for murdering and beheading her ex-boyfriend, Johnathan Willette, inside their Henderson, Nevada, home in August 2023.
Fairchild, 47, was found guilty by a jury of her peers in November 2025, AVN previously reported. She was convicted on felony murder charges. Judge Tierra Jones handed down the sentence after a protracted prosecution where Fairchild threw various curve balls to aid her defense.
The Henderson Police Department arrested Fairchild on August 15, 2023. Police proved she killed and decapitated her late husband, Johnathon Willette, 46, in their home in Henderson on August 7 of that year. She initially pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge in 2024.
As a part of that deal, she would have been eligible for parole after serving 15 years in prison. Fairchild, according to reports, attempted to revoke her plea deal and argued that she was innocent of the charges. This led to the jury trial that resulted in the current sentence.
She tried to shift the blame for Willette's death onto his son, Deviere Willette, during trial. Motivation for the murder, prosecutors argued, was to eliminate Johnathon so that she could live what she said would be a stable life with her children, including the stepson with whom she engaged in a romantic relationship.
Deviere and Fairchild married in 2021, despite her having children with Deviere's father and being his stepmother, as noted.
Fairchild was active in porn from about 2000 to 2012. She has starred in scenes for brands and studios including Elegant Angel, Reality Kings, Adam & Eve and Wicked Pictures.
