Suspected Janesville killer confessed motive, criminal complaint says

JANESVILLE, Wis. (WMTV) -The accused killer in a shooting at a Janesville business earlier this week detailed to investigators why he shot a fellow employee with whom he had worked for just a week, according to the criminal complaint filed against him.

NBC15 confirmed that 30-year-old Devon Hills of Janesville died after he was shot by a coworker.

Devon’s mother Mary Hills and high school friend Seo Hernandez identified Devon Hills with NBC15 News.

The complaint was released Friday afternoon, shortly before Kevin Todd appeared in court for the first time, and three days after he allegedly shot Hills during his shift at Precision Drawn Metals, Inc.

During the hearing, the 23-year-old Evansville man was officially charged with first-degree intentional homicide and three counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. According to court records, Rock County court commissioner Honorable Stephen Meyer ordered that Todd be held on $1 million cash bail and placed other restrictions on the defendant should he be released.

A bulk of the five-page complaint described Todd’s interview with a Janesville Police Dept. detective in which he allegedly admitted to killing the victim. He was quoted as saying that what he did was “way f—king crazy but I’ve always dealt with sh—myself,” adding that he has considered killing people “many, many, many times.”

Despite not knowing the name of the person he shot, Todd claimed to have several run-ins with the victim; run-ins that started on Todd’s second day on the job.

When asked why the shooting happened, Todd reportedly responded, “Well, that dude like to talk a lot of sh-- and he threatened to run me over with a forklift today so, I didn’t take that too well I guess.” Todd later acknowledged that he did not hear the victim make the reported threat and had been told about it by another co-worker.

According to the complaint, Todd asked the detective how many times the victim was struck because he was concerned if he shot “someone who is actually decent.”

Earlier in the complaint, the detective who conducted the interview recounted speaking to a witness who was reportedly in the room at the time of the shooting. She described hearing the shots and identified Todd as the person appearing to have been holding a gun. The witness said she was sitting at her cubicle at the time of the shooting, which occurred around 4:30 p.m. Of the four bullets fired, two of them ended up in that cubicle: one struck her phone and the other was found behind her chair.

The witness told police she knew Todd but did not know about any tensions between him and Hills.

The complaint also includes Todd’s description of the events between the shooting and his capture 45 minutes later. In that time, he claims he went home and told his grandmother what happened and grabbed some items before heading out. When he was arrested, Todd allegedly had six guns, ammunition, marijuana, and more than $2,000 in cash. Todd later told investigators he was on his way to Louisiana.

Police previously stated that Rock Co. Sheriff’s Office deputies and an Orfordville Police Dept. officer spotted Todd’s vehicle along Hwy. 213/Hwy. 11. After a four-minute chase, Todd pulled over and, according to the complaint, it was during the traffic stop that Todd first admitted to authorities that he had killed someone.

Later on, during his interview with the JPD detective, Todd appeared to show no remorse for his actions, telling the detective, “I mean, I don’t know. I don’t really care that the dude is dead to be honest. I feel bad for my family.”

Copyright 2022 WMTV. All rights reserved.