Man paid $10,000 to have teen accuser killed in sexual battery case, Florida cops say
A Florida high school student shot to death on her doorstep was the victim of a $10,000 murder-for-hire plot, according to Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis.
The deadly conspiracy was intended “to shut her up,” after the 17-year-old girl reported Feb. 6 that she had been sexually battered by Lenard White of Brooksville, Nienhuis said during a Nov. 2 news conference.
One day later at around 11:30 p.m., the teen answered a knock at the door of her South Brooksville home and was “met by two individuals who opened fire,” he said.
The teen was struck four times and died, and her mother was seriously wounded but survived, investigators say.
Among the girl’s wounds was a shot to the lower back, suggesting she died “trying to run for cover,” federal officials say.
Three men are charged with conspiring to kill the Hernando High student, including the 36-year-old White, 21-year-old Sheldon Robinson and 22-year-old Keshawn Woods, according to a Nov. 2 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Florida.
In addition, Robinson’s mother, 44-year-old Janet Williams, is accused of hindering the investigation by lying to agents, officials said.
The plot was crafted so White could avoid prosecution on the sexual battery charge, officials say. He found his partners via social media, with a post noting “he had a clean up job to do,” Nienhuis said. Details of where the message was posted were not revealed.
“And he said $5,000 would be available to anybody who was willing to help him, as well as some cocaine,” Nienhuis said. “He was apparently willing to spend $10,000 to shut her up.”
Robinson and Woods, both of Brooksville, responded to the message and carried out the shooting, officials say.
White was immediately considered a suspect, due to the teen’s allegations, Nienhuis said. The other two men were linked to the killing after searchers found a shoe near the crime scene and DNA was lifted from it, he said. (The DNA belonged to Woods, officials say.)
Search warrants recovered key evidence, including large amounts of cash, a gun used in the shooting, and a shoe matching the one found near the crime scene, officials said.
White, Woods and Robinson are in custody and have been charged “with conspiracy to commit murder for hire, murder for hire, discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence ... and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime,” officials said.
“White and Robinson were also charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, tampering with a witness, and obstruction of justice,” federal officials said.
Janet Williams is “charged with multiple counts of false statements to federal agents,” officials said.
In addition to the federal charges, Robinson and Woods face drug and weapons possession charges in Hernando County, officials said.
Brooksville is about 45 miles north of Tampa.
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