DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A woman accused of kidnapping and forcing a missing woman off a cliff in 2021 will not go on trial until December.
Loretta Carr is charged with capital murder (kidnapping) in the death of Mary Isbell.
Court records show Carr will appear for a status hearing on April 30, and she will go on trial on December 8. This change came after a status hearing in the case on Monday.
The state is seeking the death penalty against Carr. She was originally set to go on trial in November 2024, but that was continued to August 8 prior to it being continued Tuesday.
She was arrested on June 25, 2023, and indicted in May 2024. The indictment states Carr intentionally caused Isbell’s death by forcing her off a cliff into Little River Canyon after she had kidnapped her.
Jessie Eden Kelly, Carr’s daughter, is also charged with kidnapping and killing Isbell. She was extradited to Cherokee County from Pennsylvania.
Kelly is set for trial on September 8.
Isbell’s ex-husband reported her missing to the Hartselle Police Department and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO). She was last seen in November of 2021. Isbell reportedly had family in Hartselle but was last known to live in DeKalb County.
On June 28, 2023, DCSO said remains were found at the Little River Canyon National Park by a search team. The Alabama Department of Forensic Science’s Huntsville Laboratory identified the remains found at the canyon as Mary Elizabeth Isbell.
DCSO Chief Investigator Nick Brown said that one of the women cooperated and helped lead authorities to Isbell’s remains.
Investigators also said they found physical evidence at Isbell’s home, leading to the arrests of Carr and Kelly. According to a criminal complaint filed on June 26, Carr is accused of kidnapping Mary Isbell in October 2021.
Brown described what the women did to Isbell as “inhuman and brutal.”
Carr is still being held in the DeKalb County Jail. Jessie Kelly is being held at the Cherokee County Jail.
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