From left: Lenard White, Keyshawn Woods and Sheldon Robinson are charged with murder for hire in the February 2023 death of 17-year-old Isabella Angelina Scavelli in Hernando County, Florida. Prosecutors allege White hired Woods and Robinson to kill Isabella the day after she went to authorities to accuse him of sexual assault (Hernando County Sheriff’s Office)
A day after a 17-year-old girl went to sheriff’s deputies in Hernando County, Florida to report a man had sexually assaulted her, the suspect paid two men $10,000 to murder his accuser, according to a federal complaint reviewed by Law&Crime. The two men knocked on the victim’s door around 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 7 and when the victim and her mother opened the door, the two men allegedly fired a volley of shots.
Both victims were hit. The teen, Isabella Angelina Scavelli, died. Her mother survived.
“She was shot four times,” Roger Handberg, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, said of the teen at a press conference Thursday. “The bullet that caused her death entered her lower left back area, suggesting that she was shot in the back as she was trying to run for cover.”
Now three men are facing charges: Lenard White, who was accused by Isabella of sexual assault, and the alleged gunmen he hired, Sheldon Robinson, 21, and Keyshawn Woods, 22.
Though the investigation was complicated, involving 70 search warrants and countless interviews over more than eight months, it did not take long for local and federal investigators to hone in on the trio as suspects as they left behind no shortage of evidence.
After the murder, Hernando County sheriff’s deputies followed a cocaine track from the location of the murder to the intersection of South Brooksville Avenue and MLK Avenue where they found a red Nike shoe. It had Woods’ DNA on it. Investigators found the other shoe in the trunk of the getaway car.
Conveniently, White, 36, went on an “unplanned and spontaneous” trip to Georgia but before he left he allegedly solicited the help of Robinson for the murder. Robinson then reached out to people to commit what he described in text messages and phone calls as a “clean-up job,” prosecutors said. Woods eventually agreed to take part.
“I need to no if u really [c]oming… u get 5 I get 5 I already got the money from the man. I told em we [c]an do it,” Robinson allegedly said in a text message. He even made a selfie video showing the cash and cocaine that White gave him to show this was no joke, prosecutors say.
Detectives conducted a search warrant on Woods’ home and shed where they found nearly $4,000 in cash, along with a gun, prescription pills and marijuana. Later, Robinson’s mother Janet Williams found the other $6,000. Williams initially denied to ATF agents she had found the money but was busted on a recorded call with her son.
“They were asking me…did you come into a whole bunch of money? I said No. But, you did come into a whole bunch of money,” Williams allegedly said. She’s facing charges for lying to investigators.
A search warrant at Robinson’s residence yielded a box of 9 mm rounds which matched those found at the murder, authorities said. In a second search, investigators found the murder weapon buried in the backyard.
The three men were indicted on Oct. 25 in the U.S. Middle District of Florida in Tampa on a slew of charges, including conspiracy to commit murder for hire, murder for hire, discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime with violence that caused death and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. They have been in custody on state gun and drug-related charges since February.
“The nature and circumstances of this offense are atrocious. The three defendants intentionally and with premeditation, planned, organized and carried out the murder of a teenager,” prosecutors wrote.
Isabella was involved in student government and played tennis for the school. In a statement released to the media after her tragic killing, the district said teachers described her “as an energetic, kind and a joyful student.”
“She was a good kid with a very bright future and to see her life cut short was heart wrenching to say the least,” Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis said at the press conference.
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