Show No Fear: The Slaying of Seventeen-Year-Old Isabella Scavelli

The Brave One

High school junior Isabella Scavelli was every parent’s dream come true. An honor roll mainstay who was a member of the student council, as well as the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), she had her sights set on a career in the military after graduation. Sadly, she wouldn’t live to see her aspirations come to fruition.

On the afternoon of February 6, 2023, Isabella — her ever-supportive mother by her side — walked into the sheriff’s office in Brooksville, Florida to report that she had been the victim of sexual battery.

According to the teenager, her attacker was a man named Lenard White. Despite the fact that he had a reputation as a lowlife who strongarmed his way through life, Isabella wasn’t about to suffer in silence. A straight arrow with an unshakeable sense of right and wrong, she was determined to see him pay for his wrongdoing, come what may.

While the precise nature of the alleged assault has not been made public, sexual battery is defined as “forced oral, vaginal or anal penetration of another using a body part or foreign object.”

Once the paperwork was complete, Isabella and her mother breathed a sigh of relief. Confident that White would be in police custody soon enough, they returned home and waited for the good news. What happened instead was a crime victim’s worst nightmare.

Death Comes Calling

The following evening, there was a knock on the door of the Scavelli residence. When Isabella’s mother answered, she was greeted by two armed men who were strangers to her in every way. Before she could say a word, the pair opened fire on her and her daughter, who was standing just off to the side.

At around 11:30 p.m., deputies arrived at the home. Isabella, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, was pronounced dead. Her mother was rushed to the hospital in serious condition.

As the victims were being removed from the premises, investigators got to work processing what was now a crime scene. K9 officers quickly picked up the shooters’ scent, which led to the discovery of a Nike tennis shoe not far from the scene of the carnage.

When DNA taken from the shoe was entered into the national database, the system kicked back a name: Keshawn Woods. A ne’er do well who was no stranger to law enforcement, the gun-toting Cinderella was picked up and brought in for questioning.

With ample evidence that twenty-two-year-old Woods had fled the scene of Isabella’s murder in a hurry, search warrants were executed on his home and property. Inside the residence, authorities found $4000 in cash, a gun and a cache of street drugs. A car found at the residence, which was believed to have been the perpetrators’ means of escape, produced the matching tennis shoe to the one that had already been entered into evidence.

On the heels of these finds, detectives also took Woods’ associate and partner in crime, twenty-one-year-old Sheldon Robinson into custody. When the home he shared with his mother, Janet Williams, was searched, $6000 was discovered stashed away, along with ammunition that matched the caliber used to kill Isabella and wound her mother.

When Williams was questioned regarding her son’s involvement in the shooting, she vouched for his innocence, claiming that he didn’t own any firearms. She also feigned ignorance as to how he happened to come into possession of such a large sum of money. Detectives would soon learn that she was covering for her son who, in her mind, could do no wrong.

A thorough search of the backyard uncovered a gun that ballistics would confirm to be the murder weapon. On February 9, Robinson was placed under arrest.

In a shocking move that defies explanation, Woods was released from custody in early February, allowing him to temporarily skirt justice. Nine months would pass before he would once again see the inside of a jail cell.

As detectives pieced together this baffling case, they determined that Woods and Robinson had been hired guns with no connection to Isabella. The mastermind behind the hit, however, had been someone familiar to the Scavelli family for all the wrong reasons. As it turned out, the person who had paid to have the teenager — and anyone who got in the way — killed was the man she had accused of rape shortly before her death: Lenard White.

Choirboys Need Not Apply

Unlike Isabella, thirty-six-year-old Lenard White was far from an upstanding citizen. A career criminal who knew the system like the back of his hand, honesty and integrity were not in his vocabulary. Upon seeing the pretty teenager who had never been in trouble a day in her life, he was determined to have her, whether she liked it or not.

Although White had conveniently fled to Georgia on the day Isabella filed the police report naming him as her attacker, he denied having any involvement in the sexual assault or murder. In spite of his refusal to cooperate, detectives were able to build their case, thanks in part to his cohorts, who were more than happy to roll over when push came to shove.

From what authorities could gather, upon realizing that his victim was going to turn him in, White had set to work looking for a way to make the allegations go away. Figuring that his best hope of staying out of prison was to get rid of his accuser, he put out feelers, offering a large sum of cash and heaps of cocaine to anyone who would be willing to help in a “clean-up job.”

Robinson, a known gang member without a bit of conscience, jumped at the chance to score both money and drugs in one fell swoop. Not wanting to go it alone, he recruited his buddy, Keshawn Woods, to be the second gunman.

With everything in place, the paid assassins had driven to Isabella’s neighborhood, taking care to park down the street from their destination to maintain the element of surprise. After walking a short distance under cover of darkness, they had knocked on the door. Unfortunately, their target — and her doting mother — had unwittingly fallen into their trap.

An autopsy revealed that the bullet that killed Isabella had struck her as she was running away. Cowards that they were, her murderers had fired into the teenager’s back as she attempted to flee.

While Isabella’s mother survived her injuries, the emotional scars will take a lifetime to heal. Though she had done everything in her power to provide a safe environment for her children, danger had come looking for them and there wasn’t a thing she could do to stop it from claiming her pride and joy.

White was arrested on February 15, 2023, and charged with sexual battery. As more evidence came to light, conspiracy to commit murder, murder for hire, illegal use of a firearm, witness tampering, obstruction of justice and various drug-related offenses were added to the list. His crony, Sheldon Robinson, was similarly indicted. Both men are currently incarcerated pending further court proceedings.

Robinson’s forty-four-year-old mother Janet was placed under arrest in October of 2023. The charges against her include three counts of making false statements to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents. If convicted, she faces up to fifteen years in federal prison.

Woods, who had an uncanny way of dodging responsibility, was apprehended in November and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, murder for hire, illegal use of a firearm, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

To date, seventy search warrants have been served in an effort to move the case forward. Authorities have made it clear that they will leave no stone unturned in their efforts to ensure that Isabella and her family get the justice they deserve.

If the three conspirators are found guilty of the charges against them, they could conceivably spend the rest of their lives in prison. Though no decision has been made as of yet, prosecutors haven’t ruled out seeking the death penalty.

An Eye for an Eye is Only Fair

While all crimes against the innocent are senseless, those that are committed for money are among the most difficult to fathom. Isabella Scavelli, a promising young woman with her whole life ahead of her, is gone forever for no other reason than her desire to right a terrible wrong.

Isabella’s killers, who had no horse in the race, had taken her life to satisfy their own selfish greed. They had felt no sympathy for her as she literally ran for her life. Perhaps, if found guilty as charged, they will know how she felt when the time comes for them to pay the piper.

Resources:

·lawandcrime.com

·fox13news.com

·hernandosun.com

·carnegiesfuneralhome.com

·wfla.com

·fox4now.com

·oxygen.com

·fldoe.org

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