Man pleads guilty to murder in slaying of roommate, gets 40-year prison sentence

SAN ANTONIO – A man who confessed to killing his roommate after an argument has pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to prison.

Rene Devora, now 60, was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday in the 399th District Court. It was the maximum sentence allowed in the plea deal.

In December of 2021, Devora killed his roommate, Miranda Kennedy, 35. Her body was left in the trunk of a vehicle in the 5500 block of Old Seguin Road in Kirby, about 20 miles from where they lived together in the 6200 block of Bright Valley.

According to the original arrest affidavit, Devora confessed the crime to a witness.

When police arrived to arrest him, Devora cut his own throat with a type of utility knife and told officers he would not come out of the home. After a 12-hour standoff with police, Devora was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment of injuries and then booked on murder charges.