Loretta Carr: Alabama mom faces death penalty for allegedly pushing woman off cliff and sharing pics from spot
ALABAMA, UNITED STATES: A woman from Alabama, who has been accused of fatally pushing a mother off a cliff, is now potentially facing the death penalty.
Court records indicate that Alabama prosecutors are pursuing capital punishment for Carr, DailyMail reported.
Loretta Kay Carr, 44, and her daughter Jessie Kelly, 22, faced murder charges in June 2023, nearly two years after the disappearance of Mary Elizabeth Isbell, 38, in 2021.
Officers discovered remains of Mary Isbell
Despite an extensive search effort, authorities were unable to locate any sign of the missing Mary Elizabeth Isbell from Hartselle, Alabama.
However, on June 28, 2023, officers discovered human remains, later confirmed through forensic analysis to be those of Isbell, coinciding with what would have been her 39th birthday on June 30.
Three days before the discovery of the remains, on June 25, Loretta Carr and her daughter Jessie Kelly were apprehended.
Currently, Carr is being held at DeKalb County jail in Fort Payne, Alabama. She faces charges of kidnapping and capital murder, though she maintains there is insufficient evidence against her.
Carr's legal team has contended that the state lacks adequate proof to justify her detention or to warrant referral of the case to a grand jury. Meanwhile, her daughter was apprehended in Pennsylvania and later extradited to Alabama.
The allegations against Carr involve the abduction of Isbell, whom she is accused of pushing from a cliff on October 18, 2021. The nature of the relationship between the two women remains unclear.
Loretta Carr shared photos from murder spot
In January 2019, Carr posted a photo of herself near the location where the murder occurred -- Little River Canyon National Preserve.
Subsequently, additional images surfaced of Carr at the same spot, accompanied by the caption, "Day trip to Little River Canyon and Falls. Was beautiful and only a little ways from the house."
Who was Mary Isbell?
Before vanishing, Mary Isbell was suspected of involvement in a theft case in DeKalb County, reportedly linked to an apartment she shared with her boyfriend James Allen Wright.
Wright was arrested by the sheriff's office in September 2021 and later released to a rehab facility in Florida.
During his incarceration, Isbell reportedly lacked stable housing, shifting between friends' residences and seeking refuge wherever possible in DeKalb County.
Isbell's mother Debbie Wood expressed concerns about her daughter's social circle, suggesting she had fallen in with a troublesome crowd.
Describing Isbell's relationship with Wright as tumultuous, Wood recounted frequent conflicts between them.
Investigators' efforts made to find Mary Isbell since 2021
The circumstances surrounding Mary Isbell's disappearance remained unclear
However, reports suggest Isbell was sighted at her mother's residence in Hartselle on November 22, 2021, and near her son's school the following day.
Her ex-husband Steven Isbell publicly announced her disappearance on December 27, 2021, citing worries from her son, who had not heard from her since September 6, and she had no contact with her family.
The Hartselle Police Department searched the residence where Isbell had been staying on December 27, 2021, recovering physical evidence, but yielding no immediate leads.
Formal reports of Isbell's disappearance were filed with the Hartselle Police Department and the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office in January 2022. Her missing poster was subsequently published on January 19, 2022.
The case remained dormant until June 20 of the same year when DeKalb County investigators received new information regarding Isbell's disappearance, leading to interviews with two individuals connected to her alleged homicide.
Carr has been accused of kidnapping Isbell and allegedly pushing her off a cliff on October 18, 2021.
