Woman charged with ‘brutal’ cliff-top murder asks to revisit crime scenes
DEKALB COUNTY, Alabama (WHEN) – A Fort Payne woman accused of “deliberately” pushing another woman off a cliff has asked to look at crime scenes linked to the crime, according to court documents.
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43-year-old Loretta Kay Carr was arrested June 25, 2023, and charged with the kidnapping and murder of Mary Elizabeth Isbell. Isbell has been reported missing by police Hartselle Police Department and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office in January 2022, who said she has family in Hartselle but was last known to live in DeKalb County.
According to a criminal complaint, Carr is accused of kidnapping Isbell in October 2021 and “deliberately” causing her death “by pushing her off a cliff.”
Now Carr is requesting that she, with her lawyers, be allowed to revisit the crime scenes and Judge Andrew Hairston has called a hearing to discuss the matter. In the filing, her attorneys are asking that Carr be allowed to visit Wolf Creek, Carr’s fiancé’s home, and Isbell’s mobile home.
“The facts of this case make it impossible for Loretta Kay Carr to describe the crime scene to her attorneys in sufficient detail to allow attorneys to adequately investigate the alleged crime scenes without her presence,” her attorneys said.
Carr has asked to view these scenes within 30 days of placing the order. A status conference is scheduled for August 31 regarding the request to allow her to visit the crime scene.
Jessie Eden Kelly, Carr’s 22-year-old daughter, is also charged with kidnapping and killing Isbell and is serving time in the Cherokee County Jail after being extradited from Pennsylvania. She has also previously been charged with a burglary crime in Missouri.
Nick Brown, chief investigator for the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO). described what the women had done to Isbell as “inhuman and brutal”.
Although it’s unclear whether Carr or Kelly were cooperating with authorities, the DCSO said one of them helped lead authorities to Isbell’s remains, where a search team found her June 28 in Little River Canyon National Park.
The Huntsville Laboratory of the Alabama Department of Forensic Science later confirmed that the remains were Isbell’s remains – on her 39th birthday.
a judge in early July granted an application for a gag order This prevents witnesses, law enforcement, court officials, prosecutors, and basically anyone involved in the case from leaking details to the media, and introduces a motion denying cameras during the proceedings.
Carr’s defense team also wants to use it Bodycam recordings by officers that included a search of her home, footage of her interactions with her daughter, and footage of Carr’s fiancé.
The state wants Carr’s death penalty.
