Man Suspected Of Killing 2 Women Along Tamiami Trail Dies In Jail: SPD

SARASOTA, FL — A suspect in the deaths of two women along North Tamiami Trail in Sarasota earlier this year died at the Sarasota County Jail over the weekend, according to a news release from Sarasota police.

William Devonshire, 52, was brought to Sarasota Memorial Hospital by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office on May 17 for medical treatment. He returned to jail May 27 and was under hospice care with a do-not-resuscitate order.

While the SCSO is confident that he died from an illness, the official cause of death will come from the District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office, police said.

Devonshire faced murder charges related to the death of Kelliann Ripley, 48, also of Sarasota. Her body was found Feb. 25 near the Centennial Park boat ramp on North Tamiami Trail.

• Related: DNA Match Leads To Murder Charges In Tamiami Trail Death: Police

He was initially charged with trespassing, cocaine possession and paraphernalia possession. DNA evidence collected from Ripley during her autopsy connected Devonshire to her homicide, leading to the additional charge of murder, police said.

At the time of his death, detectives were in the process of writing a probable cause affidavit charging Devonshire with the murder of a second female victim in March, Captain Johnathan Todd with the Sarasota Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division said.

Detectives believed the two deaths are connected based on facts and evidence found in both cases. While they continued to investigate, they considered him a "strong suspect" in the death of the second victim, Vickie Levitch, a 59-year-old Sarasota woman, whose body was found March 10 near the 1900 block of North Tamiami Trail, close to the shore of Whitaker Bayou.

The cause of death for both women was asphyxiation by strangulation, according to State Attorney Ed Brodsky’s office.

“We have indisputable evidence that links Devonshire to both of the homicides that occurred in February and March of this year,” Todd said. “After analyzing the evidence in both homicides, we have determined that William Devonshire committed both crimes.”

The evidence against him “was overwhelming” and included DNA evidence, as well as video surveillance footage that placed him at both homicide scenes, Brodsky’s office added.

Both homicide cases have been closed following his death, police said.