DEKALB COUNTY, Ala. (Court TV) — An Alabama woman accused of kidnapping a woman and forcing her off a cliff took a plea deal and will testify at her mother’s murder trial.
On Monday, 24-year-old Jessie Eden Kelly pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of murder in the 2021 death of Mary Isbell.
Loretta Carr (Top Left/DeKalb County Sheriff’s Dept. AL), Jessie Kelly (Bottom Left, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office AL), Mary Isbell (Right/Hartselle Police Dept.)
Kelly and her mother, Loretta Carr, were initially charged with capital murder. In a plea agreement, Kelly was sentenced to 40 years in prison and agreed to testify at Carr’s upcoming trial, reported WHNT.
Isbell was reported missing by her ex-husband on Dec. 27, 2021, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office. Her remains were found in June 2023 at the Little River Canyon National Park.
Court documents allege the mother and daughter kidnapped Isbell in Oct. 2021 and forced her off a cliff.
At a press conference in June 2023, authorities called their actions “inhuman and brutal,” reported WAAY. Authorities said the three women were “acquaintances through a boyfriend.”
Carr’s trial is currently scheduled to begin Dec. 8. She is facing the death penalty.
