Her Toddler Was Found Alone. Her Killer Gets Life

Her toddler was found wandering alone in Florida. Six years later, Leila Cavett’s killer has received a life sentence, but her family still does not know where she is.

Shannon Ryan, 44, was sentenced October 23 after a Broward County jury convicted him of second-degree murder in September. Cavett was 21 when she disappeared during a July 2020 visit to South Florida from Georgia.

Her relatives asked Ryan at sentencing to disclose what happened to her and where her remains could be recovered. They want to bring her home for burial; a conviction has not answered that question.

A Child Alone Brought Police Into the Case

Cavett traveled to South Florida in July 2020. A passerby found her 2-year-old son near an apartment complex in Miramar on July 26, beginning the effort to identify his missing mother.

Her white Chevrolet pickup was found days later in a Walmart parking lot near the Miramar-Hollywood border. Investigators subsequently reconstructed parts of her visit through surveillance recordings and witness interviews.

The FBI publicly sought information from people who had encountered Cavett or knew the circumstances of her disappearance. In an August 2020 statement, Miami Special Agent in Charge George Piro said investigators were pursuing leads with their local partners and asking witnesses to come forward.

The FBI said her separation from her son was out of character and confirmed the child was being cared for. The search later included a landfill in Monarch Hill, FOX 13 reported. Crews did not recover Cavett there, and her body remained missing as the investigation became a murder prosecution.

Ryan Said She Came to Sell Her Truck

According to court documents described in contemporaneous reporting, Ryan said he had known Cavett since 2019. He told investigators she had traveled to Florida to sell him her pickup.

He also claimed he saw Cavett and her son leave a Hollywood gas station with other people. Investigators said the station’s surveillance recordings did not corroborate that account.

The recordings and Ryan’s movements became important to the case. Investigators said video placed his vehicle near the apartment complex where the child was found and showed activity at the gas station around that period.

At his September trial, Ryan gave a changed account of the disappearance, Court TV reported. He testified that Cavett returned after leaving with the other people and later walked away following another drive. Prosecutors questioned why he had not previously disclosed that version.

That was his explanation of the evidence, rather than an admission to murder. He pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence, but the jury rejected his defense and returned a second-degree murder verdict.

The Charges Changed Over Several Years

Ryan’s first federal prosecution did not produce the murder conviction. Federal kidnapping-related charges were dropped in 2021, while state authorities pursued child neglect and subsequently announced murder and evidence-tampering charges.

Hollywood police announced the state murder and evidence-tampering charges in May 2021. The prosecution eventually went before a jury without recovered remains, relying on circumstantial evidence, including recorded movements and witness accounts described in court.

Ryan’s case finally reached sentencing more than six years after the initial disappearance. The life term leaves him without parole, according to reporting on the court’s decision.

Her Family Asked for More Than Punishment

Cavett’s sister and brother addressed Ryan in court. Their requests concerned the location of her remains and the truth about her final hours, rather than only how long he would be imprisoned.

Her son, now 8, was represented by a statement read by a victim advocate. He described having few memories of his mother and wishing they could share ordinary activities together.

Ryan declined an opportunity to address the court before the sentence was imposed. He plans to appeal his conviction, according to reporting on the hearing, while Cavett’s family continues seeking the information needed to find her and give her a burial.

References: Self-Described ‘Witch Doctor’ Sentenced to Life Without Parole for Murder of Missing Mom in 2020 | Special Agent in Charge Piro Press Statement | Self-proclaimed witch charged with kidnapping in Leila Cavett case | Federal case dropped, child neglect charge filed against man in Leila Cavett case | ‘Spiritual hit man’ makes shocking new claim about missing mom from the witness stand | Police charge self-proclaimed witch doctor with murder following Georgia mother’s disappearance

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