In Loving Memory of
With profound sorrow and heavy hearts, we remember Stephanie Blundell — a vibrant, talented, and deeply loved young woman whose life was stolen in an act of unimaginable cruelty. Her passing has left an ache that words can scarcely hold, and a silence that echoes far beyond the walls of the home where she was found.
On July 20, Stephanie’s father, Phil, went to the flat on Canal Street in Chester, gripped by concern after not seeing his daughter for ten days. What he discovered was every parent’s worst nightmare. Stephanie had suffered 102 injuries to her body, including devastating trauma to her brain. She weighed just 48 kilograms. The once radiant and beautiful daughter he knew was gone.
Her partner, Tony Devenport, was later found guilty of her murder following a trial at Chester Crown Court. Justice is now moving forward, but no verdict can restore the life that was lost.
A Bright and Promising Life
Before darkness overshadowed her world, Stephanie was known as a talented and ambitious professional. She had built an exciting career as a jet-setting marketing executive for luxury watch brand TAG Heuer. Her work took her across cities and countries, reflecting her drive, intelligence, and passion. She had the world at her feet — a successful life ahead of her filled with opportunity and promise.
Friends and family remember her as warm, intelligent, and full of life. She was a daughter deeply loved, a friend cherished, and a woman with dreams that stretched far beyond her hometown.
A Relationship That Turned Dangerous
After meeting Devenport in 2024, Stephanie’s life began to unravel. What may have once appeared hopeful slowly became a cycle of fear, alcohol dependency, and control. Prosecutor Owen Edwards KC described how, when sober, Devenport could be kind. But during drinking binges, his behavior became possessive, angry, and paranoid — frightening the very woman who wanted him to seek help.
There were warning signs. There were moments when Stephanie voiced her fear.
After a trip to Slovakia in May 2025, during which Devenport relapsed into heavy drinking, Stephanie chillingly told a taxi driver: “He’ll batter me when we go in – if I go in there now, he’ll just punch me.” The driver contacted police, and Devenport was arrested for assault. Yet Stephanie, like so many victims caught in complex cycles of abuse, asked for no action to be taken.
In heartbreaking words to officers, she said: “He’s like full on serious like gunna murder me… but I mither him and I shouldn’t do that I am so sorry.”
Those words now ring with tragic clarity.
The Final Days
In the days leading up to her death, the couple checked into the The Pied Bull Hotel in what appeared to be an attempt to salvage their relationship. Staff were called to intervene after a disturbance, and Devenport was removed from the hotel in the early hours.
Back at the flat, Stephanie endured ten days confined to the home. Evidence presented in court showed she had been fed vodka lollies and sugary treats while her body deteriorated. The injuries she sustained — including traumatic brain injuries, fractures associated with strangulation, and extensive bruising — painted a harrowing picture of sustained violence.
Despite her obvious condition, no help was sought.
When her father arrived, Devenport was described as wandering in an intoxicated daze, saying repeatedly, “I think she’s dead, I think she’s dead.” But Stephanie had been dead for some time. The attempt to portray her passing as peaceful was dismantled by the evidence presented at trial.
Andrew Madden of the Crown Prosecution Service described the case as “an extremely sad case and a tragic end for a young, talented woman who had a successful life ahead of her.” Photographs and forensic findings demonstrated the brutality she endured — injuries that could not be explained away.
Remembering Stephanie
Stephanie was not defined by the violence inflicted upon her. She was not defined by her final days.
She was defined by her intelligence, her ambition, her beauty, and her spirit.
She was the daughter who made her father proud. The professional who carved her path in a competitive world. The friend who likely laughed loudly and loved deeply. She was a woman who deserved safety, support, and a future free from fear.
Her story is a sobering reminder of the devastating impact of coercive control, addiction-fueled violence, and domestic abuse. It is a reminder to listen when someone expresses fear. To intervene when something feels wrong. To ensure that no cry for help goes unheard.
As Devenport awaits sentencing on February 26, 2026, the focus remains where it belongs — on Stephanie. On honoring her life. On speaking her name.
May her memory not be overshadowed by the horror of how she died, but illuminated by how she lived.
May her family find strength in the love that surrounds them and comfort in knowing that justice
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