Self-proclaimed 'witch' faces Florida trial for murder of missing Georgia mom Leila Cavett
Shannon Ryan (Broward County Sheriff's Office)
MIRAMAR, Fla. - A self-proclaimed "witch" charged with the second-degree murder of a Georgia woman whose toddler was found wandering a South Florida parking lot nearly three years ago has asked for a continuance in his trial, originally scheduled this month.
Shannon Ryan, who also faces charges of tampering with evidence and child neglect, is now scheduled to begin on August 18.
Leila Cavett, a 21-year-old woman who had been working in Atlanta, disappeared during a trip to South Florida on July 25, 2020. Cavett reportedly moved from Georgia to Florida to work for Ryan.
Video shows her at a RaceTrac gas station in Hollywood, Florida. Despite a multi-state search, Cavett has not been found.
Ryan, a self-proclaimed "witch doctor," told officers he saw Cavett and her son get into a car with a group of men, but surveillance video at a gas station in Hollywood showed where Cavett was last seen: in the passenger seat of Ryan’s gold Lexus on July 25, police said.
The FBI released photos of her with her 2-year-old son inside the store at 3 p.m. and then again at 10 p.m. on the same day. The toddler was later found barefoot and in a soiled diaper in a Miramar apartment parking lot.
Leila Cavett's pickup truck, left, was found at a Miramar Walmart parking lot on July 28, 2020, two days after her son, Kamdyn, right, was found wandering a Miramar apartment complex. (Miramar Police Department)
Also that morning, Ryan bought carpet deodorant, trash bags and duct tape from a Walmart store. Video surveillance at the gas station also showed Ryan returning there with a bottle of bleach and going back and forth between Cavett's white pickup truck and a dumpster. Women's clothing and toys were later found in the trash bin. Despite a multi-state search, including a Broward County landfill, Cavett’s body has not been found.
Cavett’s family in Jasper, Alabama, sought custody of the boy after seeing his image on social media and contacting police.
This story is being reported out of Atlanta