21-year-old Leila Cavett, of Georgia, was last seen the day before her young son Kamdyn was found wandering a Florida complex in nothing but a t-shirt and diaper.
Shanon Demar Ryan, the Alabama man who calls himself a “witch,” has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with missing Georgia mom Leila Cavett’s disappearance, authorities announced Tuesday. Cavett, whose body has not been found, had been reported missing in July 2020 when her young son Kamdyn was found walking around a Florida apartment complex wearing nothing but a T-shirt and diaper.
“I’m grateful for the State Attorney’s Office for pressing charges for second degree murder,” Leila’s father, Curtis Cavett said, according to WTVJ. “What I will be pushing for, as her father, we’ll be pushing for first-degree murder charges.”
Ryan appeared in court Wednesday for the new charges, which also includes a charge of tampering with evidence, and is being held without bond, WTVJ reported.
He had previously been charged with her kidnapping and lying to a federal officers, which were dropped when authorities added a charge of child neglect without bodily harm, the Miami Herald reported.
21-year-old Cavett, who is from Atlanta, was last seen the day before her son was found wandering the streets of Miramar alone. Her family believes she had travelled to Florida from Georgia to meet up with someone she met online, and that it’s not like Cavett to leave her son alone. Authorities could not confirm those details.
“We’re in Alabama, she lives in Georgia. If it’s not those two states, we don’t understand why she would be here,” Cavett’s sister Gina Lewis told NBC South Florida. Lewis said Cavett doesn’t know anyone in Florida.
Ryan proclaimed his innocence on his social media page shortly after he was charged with her kidnapping in August. He also claimed to be one of the last people to see Cavett before she went missing. In a 51-minute long Facebook Live, Ryan claimed to have met Cavett and her son when their car broke down in Alabama last year and they went to his house to seek help, CBS Miami reported.
On the same Facebook page, he claims he practices "Witchcraft, Knowledge of Self, Kemetic Kundalini & Chakra meditation, Kemetic Science, Health, wellness, fitness, [and] mentorship."
Ryan told authorities upon questioning that Cavett drove to South Florida to sell him her truck, and they had met on July 25, the last day she was seen, at around 2:30 p.m. at a gas station. He also made claims about Cavett and her son leaving with other men early the following morning, which investigators said was inconsistent with the video surveillance.
Video surveillance does, however, show Ryan’s car near where Kamdyn was found wandering around the same time, and cell phone records support the claim, CBS Miami reported, citing an arrest affidavit.
Kamdyn is now in the care of a foster parent, police said.
