On May 13, 2021, the bodies of 16-year-old Preston Wayne Nixon and 17-year-old Isaiah Alexander Nelson were found along a rural roadside in Wildwood, Florida by a truck driver who called authorities. Both teenagers had been shot to death and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office described the killings as not random, with investigators believing the victims knew their assailant.

Both boys were homeschooled and were friends. Families remembered Preston as a kind, sweet young man with a bright future and Isaiah as someone who enjoyed video games and time with friends. The community was offered grief counseling after the discovery.

Investigators later identified a 15-year-old in a juvenile facility as the suspect; authorities say the suspect killed because he did not like one of the victims and wanted to kill someone. The suspect was charged in the double homicide and the case moved into prosecution. Anyone with information that could help investigators is asked to come forward.