NEED TO KNOW
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On Feb. 6, 2023, 17-year-old Isabella Scavelli went to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office and told deputies that she had been sexually assaulted by Lenard White
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The next day, Isabella was fatally shot by a man who opened fire on her and her mother after knocking on the door of their Florida home just before midnight
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A federal jury convicted White of murdering Isabella along with his cousin Sheldon Robinson, 22, who White paid $6,000 to kill the girl, according to prosecutors
A Florida man accused of sexually assaulting a high school student then having her killed when he learned that she reported him to police is heading to prison.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, a federal jury convicted Lenard White, 37, of all charges filed against him for his role in the 2023 murder of 17-year-old Isabella Scavelli — who was shot dead in front of her mother at their home in Brookesville, a city located 50 miles north of Tampa.
White is now facing multiple mandatory life sentences after being found guilty of: conspiracy to commit murder for hire, murder for hire, witness tampering, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of discharging of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime and a single count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
The jury also found the man accused of fatally shooting Isabella, 22-year-old Sheldon Robinson, guilty on those same counts, per the release.
White and Robinson will return to court for sentencing on Jan. 30, 2026.
Hernando County Sheriff’s Office
Sheldon Robinson (left) and Lenard White (right)
Isabella was in her junior year of high school at the time of her murder. She was a member of the high school tennis team and involved in the ROTC program, with prosecutors stating at trial she had hopes of joining the military after graduation.
On Feb. 6, 2023, Isabella and her mother, La Shawn Pope, went to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office to report that “Lenard White had sexually battered her,” according to a motion to sever filed in the case and obtained by PEOPLE.
Prosecutors said in their opening statement that the following day, on Feb. 7, Isabella and her mother were at home when someone knocked on the door just before midnight.
Isabella answered the door and encountered Robinson, prosecutors said, who “fired a barrage of gunshots” into the home.
The bullet that ended Isabella’s life “struck her in the back as she ran away from her front door for help,” said prosecutors, according to the press release. La Shawn “was struck several times” before she “collapsed on the ground and watched her daughter die.”
Officials were unsure if La Shawn would survive after arriving at the scene, and quickly had her airlifted to a hospital in Tampa to be treated for her injuries, according to a motion for detention filed by prosecutors and obtained by PEOPLE.
The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began their joint investigation that same night and soon identified Robinson — and then White, his cousin — as persons of interest in the case.
However, it would still take eight months for prosecutors to have enough evidence to file charges against the men.
Prosecutors said that those efforts were greatly bolstered when the weapon used in the murder was discovered buried in Robinson’s yard six months after the shooting.
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At trial, prosecutors alleged that after learning Isabella had reported him to police, White offered to pay Robinson $6,000 to carry out the murder.
White then left the state and traveled to Georgia so that he would have an alibi, prosecutors said, per the release.
Further complicating matters was the fact that White and Robinson “repeatedly attempted to hinder that investigation by disposing of evidence, tampering with witnesses, obstructing justice, and making false statements to law enforcement,” per prosecutors.
Prosecutors also alleged that the two men “discussed plans at having another witness against them killed” during the investigation.
White and Robinson pleaded not guilty to all charges at trial while a third individual who had accompanied Robinson on the night Isabella was killed, Keshawn Woods, previously pleaded guilty to all charges after confessing to the crime. He has yet to be sentenced.
Lawyers for White and Robinson did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
Read the original article on People
