SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – For the first time, messages prosecutors say two Lake Brantley High School students exchanged as detectives began closing in are coming to light — offering a new window into the investigation that uncovered an alleged murder plot.
News 6 obtained the screenshots through a public records request to the State Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors believe the messages were likely sent after investigators began questioning Isabelle Valdez and asked to search her phone during a separate swatting investigation.
The messages
Screenshots show the name “Jimmy” — who prosecutors believe is Valdez — in what appear to be exchanges between her and co-defendant Lois Lippert. The messages suggest the pair was aware police were zeroing in.
One message reads: “There is a chance they shut down ur account for suspicious behavior.”
The reply: “I wouldn’t freak out, u have proof and evidence that u didn’t do anything.”
In another exchange, one of the teens wrote, “A detective is on their way,” followed later by, “They asked for my TikTok. AND MY DISCORD.”
The response: “like the login or just the profile lmfao.”
Another message added: “Well that’s not that bad I think - as long as u dont have any like insane insane messages in there where u admit to a crime or planning somethin, which u probably do not lmfao.”
How the investigation began
Before the arrests, detectives with Altamonte Springs Police, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI were already investigating Valdez in connection with swatting calls made to Lake Brantley High School on Jan. 8, Jan. 20 and Jan. 22, 2026. News 6 first reported on a code red at the school that turned out to be a hoax on Jan. 8.
The investigation took a critical turn late on the night of Jan. 22, when an anonymous tip came in through GetFortifyFL — Florida’s anonymous tip reporting system — warning that a student planned to kill a classmate the following day.
The tip also noted that the student “already been recently involved with police officers at school about threats we’ve been getting towards our school.” Through the ongoing swatting investigation, detectives identified “Jimmy” as Isabelle Valdez.
The morning of the planned attack
Detectives mobilized early on the morning of Jan. 23. According to the arrest affidavit, a school resource officer was notified of the tip at approximately 5:10 a.m. and alerted the Altamonte Springs Police Department investigations unit. By 6:33 a.m., detectives were briefed on the planned attack.
When a school official interviewed Valdez that morning as part of a threat assessment, Valdez reportedly paused when asked whether she was thinking about hurting herself or someone else — and said yes. According to the affidavit, she then opened her backpack and handed over a white trash bag containing a silver kitchen knife approximately 10 to 12 inches long, Clorox wipes, a yellow microfiber towel, trash bags and a pair of gloves.
An affidavit for Valdez also states she had sharpened the knife twice — once at home and again that morning at school, in the girls’ bathroom in building eight. Lippert allegedly helped her run the blade back and forth along a metal pipe near a toilet and then tested the knife’s sharpness by attempting to cut her own stomach.
What Valdez told investigators
According to the arrest affidavit, Valdez told detectives in an interview that she planned to wait for the victim outside the boys’ bathroom in building six, grab him and push him into a large stall — where she intended to stab him in the stomach or cut his throat.
Valdez reportedly told investigators she had been planning the attack for approximately three months. She said she stated the victim reminded her of Adam Lanza — the gunman responsible for the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre — and that she believed killing the victim would create a “blood bond” with Lanza and resurrect him.
“Lanza wanted her to kill (the victim) so they could be reunited,” Valdez told a school mental health official, according to the affidavit. She also said she sometimes heard voices telling her to hurt others and that she had become fascinated with school shooters in middle school — particularly Lanza.
The affidavit also reveals Valdez had been secretly photographing the victim at school since September, memorizing his class schedule so she knew exactly where to wait for him. She shared those photos on a TikTok page called “I love Sandy Hook,” according to the affidavit.
Arrests, patrol car conversation
Both teens were taken into custody at Lake Brantley High School and transported to the Seminole County Juvenile Assessment Center for processing. Body camera footage obtained by News 6 captured the moment Valdez and Lippert were both placed under arrest in January.
News 6 also was the first to obtain patrol car video recorded moments after the pair were arrested. According to court documents, the teens laughed as they discussed how much jail time they might face, talked about the knife-sharpening and referenced items for the blood ritual.
The conversation also turned to mugshots. Valdez can be heard telling Lippert she had planned to wear makeup that morning for her mugshot but could not find any.
“I’m glad I don’t look too bad today,” Lippert replied.
“I look horrible,” Valdez said.
When Lippert told her it did not matter how she looked, Valdez replied: “At least they will see me in the mugshot some way or another.”
Valdez then told Lippert they were supposed to “spread our story around the TCC” — referring to the True Crime Community.
Court documents also reveal prosecutors believe Valdez said she had cried during the swatting investigation — not out of remorse, but as a strategy to get sent to a psychiatric facility rather than jail.
The charges
Valdez faces six counts: Attempted First Degree Premeditated Murder, Attempted First Degree Felony Murder, Armed Burglary of a Structure, Attempted Aggravated Child Abuse with a Deadly Weapon, Possession of a Weapon on School Property and Aggravated Stalking of a victim under the age of 16. The stalking charge covers a period from Oct. 8, 2025, through Jan. 22, 2026 — spanning the months prosecutors say she secretly photographed and followed the victim at school. The murder charges have been reclassified as life felonies under Florida law.
Lippert faces five of the same counts — all except the stalking charge. Both cases are being prosecuted in the 18th Judicial Circuit Court in Seminole County.