Investigators said Nicole Lopez suffered blunt-force and stab injuries after her boyfriend initially reported that she had fallen during a fight.

LAKE CITY, Fla. — A 19-year-old Florida man is charged with murder after deputies found his 21-year-old girlfriend dead inside a Columbia County home, where investigators said her injuries did not match the explanation initially given to a 911 dispatcher. Isaiah Devon Campbell was arrested after Nicole Xenia Lopez was found early Sept. 10 with blunt-force injuries and wounds investigators described as consistent with stabbing, according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and an arrest report cited by news organizations.

The investigation began at about 4:19 a.m., when Campbell called 911 from a residence on Northwest Moore Road and said Lopez was not breathing. The sheriff’s office said Campbell initially told dispatchers that Lopez had fallen and struck her head during a physical altercation. Deputies entered the home after Campbell let them inside. They found Lopez in the residence, and authorities said she was already cold to the touch. Emergency medical personnel pronounced her dead shortly after they arrived. Detectives detained Campbell at the scene and began examining both his account and the physical evidence inside the home.

What Campbell later told investigators differed in important ways from the brief explanation he reportedly gave during the emergency call. According to the arrest report, Campbell said he and Lopez had been arguing and that Lopez struck him in the chest and arm. He told detectives he became enraged and hit her in the face several times. Campbell also told investigators that he “blacked out” and did not intend to kill Lopez, according to the report. Those statements are allegations and investigative accounts contained in law-enforcement records; Campbell has been charged but has not been convicted in connection with Lopez’s death.

Campbell described a period after the altercation in which, investigators said, Lopez told him she felt lightheaded and then fell to the floor. The arrest report says Campbell went into another room for about 30 minutes because he wanted to calm down. He allegedly told investigators that he believed Lopez was “playing around and wanted attention,” and that he did not immediately check on her after she fell. When Campbell returned, according to his account to detectives, Lopez was lying on her back and was no longer responding. That sequence became a central part of the account investigators documented after his arrest.

Campbell told detectives he tried to perform CPR for about an hour after finding Lopez unresponsive, according to the arrest report. He said he was frightened and did not know what to do. Investigators said he eventually covered Lopez with a white sheet before contacting authorities. The report includes a statement attributed to Campbell that he had become tired of looking at her. Law enforcement also documented that significant time appeared to have passed before officers entered the home, though the precise time of Lopez’s death was not established in the public reports reviewed for this story.

Detectives said the condition of the scene raised questions that went beyond Campbell’s admission that he had struck Lopez. Investigators documented facial swelling and extensive bruising, according to the arrest report. They also reported multiple puncture wounds that appeared consistent with stabbing. Blood spatter was found in areas of the home, while investigators reported finding blood beneath Campbell’s fingernails and on his shoes. The sheriff’s office separately said detectives determined Lopez had suffered both blunt-force injuries and stab wounds during the physical altercation. Campbell, however, told investigators that he had not stabbed Lopez and maintained that he had only struck her.

The differing accounts left investigators to compare Campbell’s statements with the injuries and evidence they documented inside the residence. The sheriff’s office did not publicly identify a specific weapon in the reports examined for this article, and the available records did not provide a final autopsy report or detailed medical findings establishing the precise sequence of Lopez’s fatal injuries. Authorities have also not publicly established a motive beyond describing the death as arising from a domestic violence incident. Those unanswered questions could become significant as prosecutors develop the murder case and Campbell has an opportunity to challenge the state’s evidence in court.

Campbell was taken to the Columbia County Detention Facility after detectives interviewed him. The sheriff’s office said he was booked on a murder charge and appeared before a judge, who ordered him held without bond. The agency’s public notice identified the charge under Florida’s murder statute. Public reports available after the arrest did not identify a plea or a trial date, and they did not indicate that Campbell had been convicted of any offense in connection with Lopez’s death. The charge represents an accusation, and prosecutors would have to prove the allegations through the criminal court process.

As detectives worked the case, Lopez’s family sought to make sure she was remembered for more than the circumstances of her death. Her mother, Melissa Lopez, described the 21-year-old as sweet, caring and loving in statements given to local news organizations. Family members called her “Miss Smiley,” a nickname they said reflected how often she smiled and the effect she had on people around her. Local reports also said Lopez was the mother of a toddler. Her mother said Nicole was her only daughter and described the loss as one that would remain with her while she held on to memories of her daughter’s smile and personality.

Lopez’s killing came during an unusually violent period for Columbia County. The sheriff’s office said deputies were already investigating another homicide that had occurred roughly 12 hours earlier on Sept. 9, when a 16-year-old pregnant girl was found fatally shot inside an apartment after deputies responded to a well-being check. Authorities treated the cases as separate investigations, but the sheriff’s office cited the two deaths together when drawing attention to domestic violence in the community. In Lopez’s case, deputies said the investigation required overnight work by sheriff’s personnel and the Third Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office as authorities processed the scene, interviewed Campbell and moved toward an arrest.

The sheriff’s office asked anyone with information about Lopez’s death to contact investigators as the homicide case remained active. Campbell’s first reported court appearance resulted in an order holding him without bond, while the publicly available reports reviewed through Oct. 21 did not establish a later disposition of the murder charge. The unresolved criminal case now turns on evidence gathered at the Northwest Moore Road home, Campbell’s statements to detectives and any additional medical or forensic findings prosecutors introduce as the case proceeds.

Author note: Last updated October 21, 2026.