Shawn initially met Willow, who was then a hooker, on the docks. Willow gave up being a prostitute once she and Shawn got involved in a relationship. Shawn, who couldn't let go of Belle, broke things off with Willow. Angry, Willow trashed their apartment, and then accepted money from Victor Kiriakis to testify against Shawn and Belle in court when they were seeking custody of Claire. She then paired up with Philip to search for Shawn, Belle, and Claire, and when Philip learned that she was pregnant, he offered her all the money she needed if she would give him control of her unborn child that Philip believed was Shawn's baby. Desperate for money to support herself and her younger brother, Jed, Willow agreed to work for E.J. Wells, and broke into the Brady home to search it, accidentally setting the house on fire (a crime that was blamed on Chelsea). Unfortunately, despite having been promised money from both Philip and E.J., neither came through, and Willow was also unable to pawn the jewelry she stole from Hope.

Determined to clear Chelsea's name, Nick Fallon stole the hairbrush from the evidence file at the DNA lab. Willow knew that Nick had stolen the hairbrush. So, she confronted him over it one night at the beach. The two struggled over the brush. During the struggle, Willow accidentally fell and hit her head on a rock. She died from the fall. An autopsy confirmed that Shawn Brady was not the father of her baby. Nick Fallon was cleared of any criminal activity surrounding her death. Willow's death was ruled an accident.