Loretta Carr: Judge denies youthful offender status to daughter of woman accused of pushing someone off a cliff
While Carr faces the death penalty if convicted, Jessie Kelly will face her own triel this summer as an adult for helping her mother murder Mary Isbell
A judge denied youthful offender status to a woman accused of helping her mother murder Mary Elizabeth Isbell in 2021.
Jessie Kelly will be tried as an adult for the murder of Isbell, who police believe Kelly and her mother, Loretta Carr, pushed off a cliff in the Little River Canyon National Park in Alabama, according to WAFF report. She was barely 18 at the time.
Isbell’s body remained in the park, her whereabouts unknown, for two years until one of the women disclosed to police where the body was and a search team located it. Police haven’t revealed which of the suspects cooperated with them in finding Isbell’s remains.
The mother and daughter were apparently suspects from the beginning when, according to a release from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO), Isbell’s ex-husband reported her missing on Dec. 27, 2021, to the Hartsbell Police Department (HPD) in Fort Payne, Alabama.
At the time, both the location and Isbell’s vehicle were processed by the Jacksonville State University’s Center for Applied Forensics, but physical evidence collected turned up nothing in the national database. However, there where signs of a struggle at the scene.
A tip finally came in on June 20, 2023 which led to the arrests of 45-year old Loretta Kay Carr and Jessie Eden Kelly. The release notes that both have been charged with capital murder-kidnapping.
Isbell’s body was finally found on June 28, 2023 by a search team. Fischer Rescue Squad, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Payne Police and Fire personnel, Investigators with the District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement with the National Park Service all partook in the search for the missing woman.
On Isbell’s 39th birthday, June 30, 2023, she was positively identified.
AL.com cites court documents which allege that Loretta Kay Carr pushed Isbell off a cliff after kidnapping her, with the help of Carr’s daughter, Jessie Eden Kelly. An investigator at the time of the arrests noted that the two women had been suspects in the case from the beginning, as the three all knew each other through the same man, though it isn’t clear how.
Investigators believe Isbell died between the evening of Oct. 18 and the morning of Oct. 19, 2021, AL.com says.
New court documents from May 2024 reveal that the prosecution will seek the death penalty against Carr if convicted, AL.com reports. The Ninth Judicial Circuit District Attorney deemed the death penalty a viable option due to “aggravating and mitigating circumstances” in this case.
Revisiting the Crime Scene
The Daily Mail, in scouring Carr’s Facebook photos, discovered that Carr had actually revisited the Little River Canyon National Park and took pictures of herself near where the murder allegedly occurred.
“Day trip to Little River Canyon and Falls. Was beautiful and only a little ways from the house,” reads one of the photo captions.
The sheriff’s office also led some details about Isbell’s life leading up to her death. According to the Daily Mail, the sheriff’s office said that Isbell was suspected of a theft sometime in the months before she died, at an apartment she shared with her boyfriend, James Allen Wright.
The sheriff’s office arrested Wright in Sept. 2021 and was released to a rehab center in Florida in Nov. 2021, the Mail continues. Wright’s time in jail left Isbell essentially homeless, a time where she moved between friends’ houses and anywhere she could find within DeKalb County.
The victim’s ex-husband, Steven Isbell, posted on Facebook on Dec. 27, 2021, about Mary’s disappearance, saying her son “hasn’t heard from his mom since September 6th on his birthday and he’s really worried about her because she always at least calls him on the holidays.”
“I’ve talked to her family and no one has heard from her. So we thought about doing a missing person report,” he added.
WAAY News reported a potential motive for the murder: a boyfriend allegedly involved with all three women, though it isn’t clear if that boyfriend is James Wright or another man.
“They are all acquaintances, mainly to a boyfriend. They all do come back to one specific person,” said Nick Brown, chief investigator with the DCSO.
“It’s very inhuman,” he added. “Brutal what these ladies did to Mary.”
A daughter’s petition to be tried as a youth
In court back in February 2024, Kelly submitted character reference letters to a Dekalb County judge. In those letters was one she wrote herself, according to a report by the Hartselle Enquirer.
The Dekalb County Sheriff’s office confirmed to the Enquirer that the two women are incarcerated separately while awaiting trial. When her mother was arrested in June 2023, Kelly was already in prison in Pennsylvania, awaiting extradition to Missouri to face a felony theft charge, the Enquirer says. In July, she was extradited to Alabama.
The eight letters of support Kelly presented to the judge were apparently from fellow inmates, the Enquirer says.
“She really is a bright, well-meaning, and intelligent young woman who I feel could be easily taken advantage of due to her sweet nature and trusting spirit,” one letter read, from a woman who claimed she shared a cell with Kelly in Cherokee County Jail.
Another inmate from the same jail wrote that while being bunkmates with Kelly, she found the woman to be a “kind-hearted child of God.”
Other letters describe Kelly as “naive” and “innocent,” according to the Enquirer.
“I don’t think she completely grasps how serious her situation is,” another inmate wrote.
Bradfordladner.net notes: “The Alabama Youthful Offender Act allows criminal courts in Alabama to grant youthful offender status to defendants whose crimes or offenses occurred before they turned 21 years of age.”
This is something that must be requested by the defendant. The court is obligated to inform the defendant that they have this option. Upon filing the request, the court will usually seek out a probation officer to investigate the defendant’s background and the facts and circumstances surrounding the charges.
“Some common factors considered include: prior contact with criminal justice system, age, maturity, family relationships, role in the offense, seriousness of the offense, school attendance and history, potential for rehabilitation, and community ties,” the Bradford Ladner website notes.
Had a judge granted youthful offender status, Kelly could have faced only a three-year prison sentence, three years probation, suspension of the sentence with or without probation, or fines of up to $1000 with or without probation. Depending on her role in the murder, it is unknown exactly what sentence she will face.
Carr has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental defect, according to WAFF. Kelly’s trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 25, 2025.
Sources
WAFF
AL.com