Self-Proclaimed Witch Shannon Ryan Sentenced to Life Without Parole for 2020 Murder of Young Mother Leila Cavett

A Broward County judge on Friday, Oct. 23, sentenced Shannon Ryan, a self-proclaimed witch and "witch doctor," to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for the 2020 murder of Leila Cavett, a 21-year-old Georgia mother who vanished in Hollywood and whose body has never been found.

Circuit Judge Michael Usan handed down the sentence in Fort Lauderdale about a month after a jury convicted Ryan, 44, of second-degree murder. The jury reached its verdict in less than 90 minutes after a weeklong trial, according to reporting from the courtroom. Ryan showed no visible reaction as the sentence was read, CBS News Miami reported. His defense attorneys had asked for a sentence of just over 22 years.

The case drew national attention in the summer of 2020, when Cavett's 2-year-old son was found wandering alone at an apartment complex in Miramar, hours after his mother was last seen alive on surveillance cameras at a RaceTrac gas station in Hollywood. More than six years later, her family is still asking where she is.

The sentencing hearing

Before Usan imposed the sentence, members of Cavett's family delivered victim impact statements and appealed directly to Ryan to reveal what happened to her and where her remains are, so she can be given a proper burial.

"My sister was more than a victim; she was a daughter, a sister, and most importantly, a mother," her sister, Gina Cavett, told the court, according to CBS News Miami. Her brother, Curtis Cavett Jr., said he wanted the truth and wanted to know where his sister is.

Another sister, Tyuania Cavett, described the toll of being reminded of Leila through her name and the songs she loved. "There are days I can't even talk about it because of the pain I feel," she said, WPLG Local 10 reported.

A family member also told the court she hoped Ryan would one day find it within himself to tell the family where Cavett is, saying she "deserved to be put to rest in a dignified manner."

Cavett's son, now 8, submitted a written statement that a victim advocate read aloud. In it, the boy said he does not remember much about his mother because he was so young and wished she were still here to do things together, according to CBS News Miami.

When Usan offered Ryan a chance to address the court, he declined. "I decided not to make a statement," Ryan told the judge.

A murder conviction without a body

Because Cavett's body was never found, prosecutors built their case on circumstantial evidence: surveillance video, cellphone data, purchase records and Ryan's internet searches. Assistant State Attorneys Elizabeth Lipella and Taylor Collins of the Broward State Attorney's Office tried the case.

According to court documents and testimony described in news reports, Cavett traveled with her son from Georgia to South Florida in July 2020. Ryan told investigators that she had come to sell him her white pickup truck. An FBI agent testified at an earlier hearing that Cavett had come to Hollywood to become Ryan's apprentice, and detectives said they found Facebook messages indicating she wanted to study under him.

Prosecutors told jurors that:

• Ryan was seen on surveillance video dragging a large garbage bag to the dumpster at the Hollywood RaceTrac where Cavett was last seen.
• Ryan bought trash bags, duct tape and carpet odor eliminator at the Walmart where Cavett's truck was later found abandoned.
• A gas station employee later noticed children's toys and women's clothing in that dumpster, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in 2020.
• Ryan's phone showed a Google search asking whether bleach and alcohol make chloroform, as well as searches for commercial garbage pickup dates in Hollywood.

Prosecutors argued that Ryan killed Cavett and disposed of her body, possibly in that dumpster. The FBI searched a landfill where trash from the gas station is taken several times in 2020 but did not find her.

Investigators also said Cavett was last seen with Ryan, which contradicted his account that she had left with several men, CBS News Miami reported.

Ryan's defense

Ryan pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence. He took the stand in his own defense on Sept. 23, telling jurors he had nothing to do with Cavett's disappearance. Under questioning, he offered a new account of the last time he saw her, saying he dropped her off at an apartment complex and saw her for the last time a few minutes later. He acknowledged he had not told Miramar police detectives that account, saying he had been trying to protect a friend, according to WPLG Local 10.

Ryan testified that the trash bags, cleaning products and duct tape were used to clean out his car and the truck he bought from Cavett. Asked about the chloroform search, he said he had seen a social media post about things that should never be mixed and looked it up.

His attorney, Dameka Davis, argued at trial that prosecutors had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Cavett was even dead. After the sentencing, Davis criticized the prosecution's portrayal of her client as a witch doctor, arguing the label unfairly shaped the case against him, and said she plans to appeal the conviction, Local 10 reported.

How the case moved from federal to state court

The prosecution followed an unusual path. In 2020, federal authorities in the Southern District of Florida arrested Ryan after he had agreed to meet with Miramar detectives and then left the area; he was later found in Texas. Federal prosecutors charged him with kidnapping Cavett's son with the intent of collecting a ransom, reward or other benefit, and with lying to a federal officer. At that point, Ryan had not been charged in Cavett's disappearance.

In April 2021, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida filed an order dismissing the federal charge without stating a reason, and Ryan was booked into the Broward County Jail on a state charge of child neglect. A Broward judge set his bond at $100,000 and ordered him to have no contact with the child or anyone under 18.

Weeks later, in May 2021, Hollywood police announced that Ryan had been charged with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in Cavett's death, and a judge ordered him held without bond. He remained in custody for more than five years before the case went to trial in September 2026.

Why the case resonated in South Florida

The disappearance unfolded across several Broward County communities. Investigators determined that Cavett spent time in Hollywood, Miramar and Fort Lauderdale in the short period after she arrived in South Florida, and her vehicle was found unattended in Hollywood on July 28, 2020. Her son was found on the morning of July 26, 2020, wearing only a shirt and diaper, according to earlier reporting.

The FBI offered a reward and released surveillance video in the weeks that followed, and the case became a fixture of local coverage and national true-crime programming. Cavett's father said at the time that his daughter was a loving mother who would never have abandoned her child.

Murder convictions without a recovered body are rare, and the case tested whether a Broward jury would convict on circumstantial evidence alone. Jurors did so in under 90 minutes.

What's next

Ryan has 30 days from sentencing to file his notice of appeal, according to CBS News Miami, and his attorney has said she intends to challenge the conviction. Any appeal would go to Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal, which hears cases from Broward County.

Cavett's remains have still not been recovered. Her family has said their hope is that Ryan will eventually disclose where she is. Anyone with information about Cavett's disappearance has been asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at FBI.gov/tips.