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An Alabama woman has been handed a life sentence for the abduction and subsequent murder of a woman involved with her partner, culminating in the victim being pushed off a cliff.
On February 5th, Loretta Carr received her punishment for the 2021 murder of Mary Beth Isbell. In addition to life imprisonment for the murder, she was also sentenced to 20 years for kidnapping, as announced in a press release by the Alabama District Attorney’s Office. According to court records accessed by Oxygen, Carr admitted to first-degree kidnapping and murder. Her sentences will be served consecutively.
Carr’s daughter, Jessie Kelly, who was complicit in the crime, accepted a plea deal for a reduced charge of murder in 2025. As per documents reviewed by Oxygen, Kelly received a 40-year prison term.
The tragic events unfolded on October 18, 2021, when Carr and Kelly visited Isbell’s residence to confront her about her involvement with Carr’s significant other. The pair assaulted Isbell, forcibly took her to their vehicle, and drove her to Wolf Creek Overlook at Little River Canyon near Fort Payne.
According to the press release, “Carr tethered herself to the overlook’s barrier with a rope, coerced Isbell to climb over it, and then compelled her to plunge off the canyon’s edge.”
Authorities condemned Isbell’s murder.
“This is an example of a senseless act destroying a family,” District Attorney of the 9th Judicial Circuit Summer Summerford said in the press release. “A mother is left without a daughter, sisters are left without their sibling, and a son is left without his mother.”
Back in Dec. 2021, Isbell’s ex-husband reported her missing, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office. It wasn’t until June 2023 that Isbell’s remains were found in the canyon; two days later—on what would have been Isbell’s 39th birthday—authorities positively identified those remains as that of Isbell.
A spokesperson from the office of Carr’s attorney declined to comment when asked by Oxygen. An attorney for Kelly could not be located.