Left: Loretta Kay Carr (Dekalb County (Ala.) Sheriff”s Office). Right: Jessie Lee Kelly (Cherokee County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Office.) Inset: Mary Elizabeth Isbell (Hartselle (Ala.) Police Department).
An Alabama woman will spend the rest of her days behind bars after she and her daughter kidnapped her romantic rival and drove her to a national park where they shoved her off a cliff.
Loretta Carr was sentenced to life in prison for the death of Mary Beth Isbell, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office said. She also received 20 years for kidnapping the victim. Carr pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping on Thursday.
On the night of Oct. 18, 2021, Carr and her daughter Jessie Kelly went to Isbell’s home to “confront her” over a relationship the suspect had with the victim’s significant other. The mother-daughter duo then attacked Isbell, stuffed her in their vehicle and later drove to the Wolf Creek Overlook at Little River Canyon National Park, around 75 miles southeast of Huntsville.
“Carr tied herself with a rope to the barrier at the overlook, forced Isbell to climb over the barrier, and then forced her off the side of the canyon,” prosecutors wrote.
Isbell’s ex-husband reported her missing in December, but it would take authorities about 18 months to find her body.
As Law&Crime has previously reported, Carr, then 45, and Kelly, then 22, were charged in 2023 with Isbell’s murder.
Isbell’s remains were found on June 28, 2023, and were positively identified two days later, on what would have been her 39th birthday.
Her disappearance remained a mystery for years until DeKalb County investigators received credible information in June 2023, leading to Carr and Kelly’s arrests shortly thereafter.
Kelly pleaded guilty last year. She was originally charged with capital murder but pleaded to the lesser charge of murder — which was announced the day her trial was supposed to start. Kelly was expected to testify against her mother if the case went to trial. She was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
“This is an example of a senseless act destroying a family. A mother is left without a daughter, sisters are left without their sibling, and a son is left without his mother,” District Attorney Summer Summerford said. “This family has been through so much, but they have walked with us and law enforcement throughout this process and have been so responsive and helpful. Please continue to pray for this family as they continue to figure out how to go through life without their loved one.”
Marisa Sarnoff contributed to this report
