<Li> Nate Hastings (adoptive) </Li> <Li> Lily Winters (adoptive) </Li> <P> Devon Hamilton is a fictional character from the original CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless portrayed by Bryton James . The character was conceived by head writers John F. Smith, Kay Alden and Trent Jones in the summer of 2004 . Devon is introduced as a homeless teenager when he is fostered by the Winters family, the core African - American characters within the series . Drucilla Winters (Victoria Rowell) sympathizes with Devon because she too grew up in the foster care system . Drucilla and husband Neil (Kristoff St. John) raise Devon along with their daughter Lily (Christel Khalil) and legally adopt Devon in 2006 . As a college freshman, Devon contracts meningitis and loses his ability to hear . He learns sign language to communicate and later receives a cochlear implant . Other notable storylines involving the character include the revelation about his paternity making him the grandson of Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper), inheriting the bulk of Katherine's billion - dollar estate, and his love affair and marriage to his former stepmother Hilary Curtis (Mishael Morgan). </P> <P> The foster care, meningitis and deaf story arcs received critical acclaim for their social impact and earned James five Outstanding Younger Actor Emmy nominations . James won the award in 2007 . James also earned four consecutive NAACP Image Award nominations for his portrayal of Devon and he won the award in 2009 . The pairing of Devon and Hilary quickly amassed a very active fan base and is considered to be a supercouple . Bryton's portrayal of Devon during Hilary's kidnapping at Neil's hands also earned James a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor Emmy in 2016 . </P>

Who is devon's father on young and the restless