William Devonshire

Within weeks, another woman would be found dead near the shore of Whitaker Bayou, just off North Tamiami Trail.^[2] By early summer, police said DNA evidence tied both homicides to the same man: 52‑year‑old transient William Devonshire, already locked up on unrelated charges.^[1][2][3]

He never made it to trial. In June, after what authorities described as a medical emergency, Devonshire was dead as well.^[2] Police closed both homicide cases the next day, saying the evidence against him was “indisputable.”^[2]

What happened between those two bodies on the waterfront and the suspect’s death in a hospital bed is a story about DNA, vulnerable women, and a man whose violent history stretched back nearly two decades.

Two Women, Two Waterfronts

Ripley’s body was discovered on February 25, 2022, near the Centennial Park boat ramp.^[1] Police later identified her as 48‑year‑old Kelliann Ripley of Sarasota and described her as an “unhoused citizen.”^[1][2]

Among the people who knew her was Jim Nellans, who said he lives on the streets of Sarasota and is part of a community that gathers near Central Avenue and 10th Street.^[3] He remembered Ripley as someone who mattered in that world. “It’s good they got somebody in connection” with her death, he said later. “Kelly was really loved out here.”^[3]

A Tall, Transient Suspect With a Long Record

When Sarasota police began connecting the dots, one name kept coming up: William Devonshire.

The Sarasota Police Department and Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office both described him as a 52‑year‑old homeless man.^[2] Jail paperwork listed his address simply as “transient.”^[3] A corrections document put him at 6 feet 4 inches tall and around 220 pounds.^[2]

By the time of his March 2022 arrest, the police department said he already had criminal histories in New Jersey, Maryland, Indiana, Ohio, Delaware, and Florida, with past charges that included assault, aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, battery, burglary, and trespassing.^[2]

His record in Delaware was more serious. Court documents show that on January 5, 2004, a grand jury there indicted him on counts of first‑degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, for conduct alleged to have occurred on April 3, 2003.^[2] The case was captioned State of Delaware v. William J. Devonshire and decided in part by a written opinion issued June 15, 2004.^[4] That opinion notes that Devonshire, who was also facing a separate attempted robbery case involving alleged victim and key witness Kimberly M. Susi, twice tried to delay the robbery trial until after the murder case, a request the court rejected.^[2][4]

A later summary would describe him as having a prior murder conviction in Delaware.^[5] Whatever the precise procedural history, Sarasota detectives knew they were dealing with a man who had already been tied to serious violence before.

Building the DNA Case Around Ripley

After Ripley’s body was recovered in February, investigators moved quickly to secure forensic evidence. The Sarasota Police Department said that evidence collected during her autopsy was submitted to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for analysis.^[2]

A Trespass Arrest Becomes a Murder Charge

On March 25, 2022, Sarasota police arrested Devonshire in Pioneer Park, at 1260 12th Street.^[2] He was booked on trespassing, possession of cocaine, and possession of paraphernalia — charges explicitly described as unrelated to the February homicide.^[1][2][3]

According to interim Police Chief Rex Troche, the day after that arrest, the department learned that Devonshire’s DNA matched genetic material found on Ripley’s body.^[3] That FDLE‑assisted match transformed him from a transient man on minor drug and trespass counts into an accused killer. Police charged him with murder in connection with Ripley’s death.^[1][2][3]

Sarasota County Jail records show that on March 26 he was charged with “murder, dangerous depraved without premeditation” and held without bail.^[1] Coverage and police statements tie his March murder charge to the February killing of Ripley.^[1][2]

Those same records would later help fuel questions about whether that murder count reflected only Ripley’s case or also the second woman’s death — questions that still hang over the file.

Patterns in Two Homicides

Even before the DNA results, detectives had noticed similarities in the February and March killings. Interim Chief Troche said at a March 28 news conference that the “facts and evidence” in the February incident and in the March 10 death led police to believe the cases were related.^[2] He spoke of a “very strong correlation” between the evidence collected in both.^[2]

Was He Formally Charged in the Second Killing?

What happened on paper in the March case is less clear than investigators’ rhetoric.

On one side, local reporting and police statements repeatedly describe Devonshire as a “strong suspect” but say he was not formally charged in the March death of the 59‑year‑old woman whose name police did not publicly release.^[1][3]

On the other, Sarasota County Jail records show that he was booked on a count of “murder, dangerous depraved without premeditation” on March 26 and held without bail.^[1] Prosecutors and police also said he was arrested in March and facing a murder charge in connection with Ripley’s death — a charge corroborated by multiple accounts that he was charged in March in the February homicide of 48‑year‑old Kelliann Ripley.^[1][2][3]

What remains unresolved is whether that March 26 murder count was strictly the formal booking for Ripley’s case, or whether at any point it was understood internally to also encompass the second homicide. Captain Todd’s later statement that detectives were still drafting a probable cause affidavit specifically for the March killing when they learned of Devonshire’s death suggests that, at least procedurally, a separate charge for the second woman had not yet been finalized.^[2]

In practical terms, though, police leadership spoke as if both cases were solved — even without a second indictment.

A Sudden Collapse

Whatever the state of the paperwork, the prosecutions would never move forward.

On May 17, 2022, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office reported that Devonshire was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital following a “medical event.”^[2] The exact nature of that emergency was not publicly detailed in the statements at the time.

Closing the Cases Without a Trial

On June 6, Sarasota Police public information officer Genevieve Judge announced that detectives would “close out” both the February homicide case and the March homicide case as a result of Devonshire’s death.^[2]

She explained the practical consequence: with no living suspect, the State Attorney’s Office for Florida’s 12th Judicial Circuit would be unable to proceed with one or more of the cases.^[2] Another account put it more bluntly — after Devonshire’s death, investigators closed both homicide cases.^[1]

Internally, however, paperwork lagged behind the public declaration. When asked that same day about copies of the two homicide reports, Judge said the reports were incomplete and could not yet be released.^[2] Devonshire’s death, she said, had occurred so recently that it would take time for detectives to fully close out the reports.^[2]

Captain Todd’s statement about “indisputable” evidence linking Devonshire to both killings suggested confidence in the investigative work.^[2] But with detectives still finalizing files and the official reports withheld, the public would not see the full evidentiary record behind that assertion.

What Remains Unanswered

Even with both cases officially closed, a number of questions linger.

Police acknowledged during the investigation that they had not determined whether Ripley and the second woman ever knew one another, despite similarities in their circumstances and in the evidence collected.^[2]