Alabama Woman Admits She Helped Mom Push Rival Off a Cliff

An Alabama mother and daughter allegedly. teamed up to kill a romantic rival. And. now one has apparently turned against. the other, taking a deal, promising to. testify against the other at trial. The. victim's family and friends who have. waited years to find out the truth. They. are one step closer to getting justice. We're going to sit down also with an. Alabama attorney to analyze the plea. bargain and what happens next in this. very strange case. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber.

All right, we have a major update in. just a bizarre story out in Alabama. A. mother and daughter who were both. accused of pushing a woman off of a. cliff have apparently turned against. each other. That's at least what seems. to be happening. Now, we first told you. about the case of Mary Elizabeth Isbel. here on Sidebar back in February of. 2024. That's when then 22-year-old Jesse. Eden Kelly submitted character. references to a judge saying that she. had a sweet and trusting spirit and was.

a child of God. Now, that same woman has. admitted to murdering Mary Elizabeth, who went by Beth. That's how we're going. to refer to her, Beth. So, let me go. back and get you caught up on this case. that, by the way, a detective called. Inhuman and Brutal. So, we go to. November of 2021. Beth, who was a mother. to a teenage son, went missing from the. Hartzell, Alabama area. Her ex-husband. posted on Facebook at the time, "I. actually hate to put this out here on. social media, but Facebook covers a wide.

area. 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, he. thought about doing a missing person. report. Now, that missing person's. report was officially filed just after. Christmas in 2021. This is according to. Fox 54. According to news outlet al.com, officials were able to determine where. Beth had been living using her phone. records. They got a search warrant for.

her home, turned up physical evidence. that showed signs of a struggle, and. that included a bloody handprint, but. there was no Beth. Well, based on. statements from witnesses and later. details from the suspects, police. believe she died around October 18th or. 19th, 2021. And a big break in the case. came in summer of 2023 when Dicab County. investigators got a tip, a very. important tip that led them to Loretta.

K. Carr and her daughter Jesse Eden. Kelly. Investigators had identified the. women as potentially being involved. earlier in the investigation, but their. suspicions were confirmed thanks to this. tip. According to reporting from WAY, remember I talked about the blood? Investigators confirmed that the blood. was in fact Beth's. And that's because. she had previously submitted her DNA as. part of an old rape kit. But the hand. that made that bloody handprint, that. was identified as Kelly's. And that was.

thanks to her prior criminal record. Carr and Kelly, they were brought in for. questioning, they were arrested, and. they were charged with capital murder. And almost 2 years after she was. reported missing, that is when we had an. update. Beth's body was found nearly 100. miles away near Fort Payne, Alabama at. the bottom of a cliff in Little River. Canyon National Preserve. According to. Dicab investigators, one of the women. led them to the victim's exact location. >> In the beginning, we knew that there was.

a possible body there. We just didn't. know where. Little River Canyon is like. 15,000 acres of national park. There's multiple overlooks that run. along Alabama Highway 176 and also. there's multiple overlooks on the. Cherokee County side of Little River. Canyon. So through working with the uh. codefendant, we were able to narrow down. a couple different locations and that uh. that that proved to be very accurate and. the information that she gave.

>> Now court filings that were seen by WF. say that Kelly confessed to the crime, told search teams where to find the. victim's body, that she was the person. She reportedly said they wanted to make. it look like Beth did this to herself, that it was a suicide. Human remains. were discovered on June 28th. Beth was. officially identified on what would have. been her 39th birthday. According to. court documents that were reviewed by. WAY, the mother and daughter duo, they. showed up at Beth's trailer in October. of 2021, fought with her. It's believed.

that Carr hit the victim multiple times. over the head with a pistol, and the. pair allegedly took Beth to Carr's. house, forced her to shower to get blood. off of her, and then took her to Little. River Canyon. Court filings indicate. that Kelly told police she watched her. own mother walk this woman to the edge. of a cliff before pushing her off. In. fact, WAFF reports that Kelly told. police that Beth begged for her life. And in another chilling twist, it has.

been reported that Carr visited that. same preserve in 2019 and even posted a. selfie to Facebook. That's the same area. where she's accused of killing a woman. Now, for evidentiary point of view, that's going to be important because it. will show that she knew the area, that. she visited this area, that this is very. specific area where they found Beth. Now, as we're talking a lot about the. law here, let me real quick call out an. expert on the law, the legal sponsor who. helped make this episode happen, Morgan. and Morgan. This is America's largest.

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been brewing, connected back to a man, a. love interest. Although, I'll be clear, the exact details on a motive haven't. been revealed as of yet. Maybe we'll get. that at a trial. But Kelly, who was in. jail in Pennsylvania waiting extradition. to Missouri on a theft charge, was. eventually extradited to Alabama on the. capital murder charge. This is according. to news outlet WF. Now, a sheriff's. deputy told al.com that she was. deliberately held at a different jail. from her mom to keep them separated. So, Kelly was asking the court for youthful.

offender status, which we'll get more. into in a moment because she was 20. years old when the crime happened. that. was denied. But as part of her request, she had multiple fellow inmates submit. letters on her behalf talking about her. apparent good character. In February of. 2024, Kelly herself wrote to the judge, "I asked that the court to please take. these letters in consideration on my. behalf of who I am rather than just when. I'm being portrayed in black and white.". Eight incarcerated women wrote letters. which included statements like, "She is. really 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.". Another letter described Kelly as a. kind-hearted child of God. But now Kelly. is admitted to murder. Her trial was. supposed to start this week, but instead. she agreed to a plea deal. So what. happened was her charge was dropped. So. her charge from capital murder. kidnapping was reduced down to just. murder and she was sentenced officially. to 40 years in prison with credit for. time served behind bars so far. And in.

exchange she has to testify truthfully. against her own mother Loretta Carr at. trial. Carr is supposed to go to trial. in December. She faces the death penalty. if she's convicted. Okay. So, to help me. dig deeper into the legal angles of this. case, I want to bring on Alabama. criminal defense attorney Michael P. Hanley. Thank you so much for coming on, Michael. Appreciate it. So, have you. been following this case at all? What is. your reaction to it? Because I mean, unfortunately, here on Sidebar, we talk.

about a lot of different crimes. We talk. about a lot of killings. This one is. incredibly incredibly cold. Uh, as laid. out by prosecutors. What's your reaction. to this case? Well, but it has an. interesting tie into, you know, my my. past. My daughter uh was married in the. Little River Canyon up on the side of. one of these cliffs several years ago. So, when they start looking at the crime. scene, it brings back, you know, some. very interesting thoughts.

>> Oh my gosh, I didn't know that. Just so. we know that environment, how steep is. that cliff? You know, if you're. imagining this woman being walked out to. her death and being pushed over, what. does that scene look like? >> Well, the drops in the canyon can be 60, 70, 100 ft. Think about the Grand. Canyon, but stick it in in Alabama where. you've got trees and and vegetation, and. that's kind of the environment you're. looking at up there. >> I mentioned before the social media post.

or the selfie post uh that one of the. defendants had there. I mean, it just. makes it so incredibly uh cold and. chilling and eerie. Um, talk to me, let's talk about the law a little bit. Talked about capital murder versus just. murder in Alabama because that was a. significant difference in terms of. sentencing. What does it mean more. talking about capital murder versus. murder? >> Well, capital murder is just a an. elevated class of murder. It comes with.

an additional aggravator. In this case, that aggravator was kidnapping. Um, so. it's just a regular murder that occurs. during the course of one of the. aggravators that Alabama has created uh. for its capital murder system. The. biggest difference uh between the two, other than that additional aggravator, is the fact that. um capital murder only has two. punishments, the death penalty or life. without the possibility of parole. a. regular murder um carries a punishment.

of between 10 years and 99 years or. life. So that's the main difference. between those two. There's also the. particularized intent to kill uh which. comes along with capital murder. >> And as we go through these details of. this case, I can you know obviously the. kidnapping component, but the egregious. nature of this as well. Um I'm not. surprised that's what the charge was. However, I talked about what her plea. deal was and what she was sentenced to. She was Kelly, she was requesting youth.

offender status, even though she was. apparently an adult when Beth was. killed. How does that work exactly? Youth offender status. >> Well, in Alabama, anybody who is under. the age of 21 years of age has the. ability to apply for youthful offender. status. Um, it is essentially intended. to for folks to get that first bite off. the apple. Um, I apply all of my clients. under the age of 21 for youth offender.

status, even those who have committed. murders. Uh, it is very rare to get a. youthful offender grant uh in a violent. felony offense like murder. >> Why is that? Why what is the judge what. are the factors weighing against a. defendant? Well, the court is not supposed to rely. only upon the crime that the person is. charged with, but that seems to be the. primary focus. Uh, the court's supposed. to look at the history of the.

individual, any uh mitigating or. aggravating circumstances that may uh. surround the the defendant's life. history. Um, and any aggravating or or. mitigating circumstances that might. apply to the actual offense. So it it's. a there's a laundry list of things the. court should consider. We usually file. memorandums to to the court, you know, memorandums in support of offender when. we do that kind of breaking down the law.

and the the category of of. considerations. So. >> and she also, by the way, had a criminal. history. So we know that when she was. charged in this case, she was awaiting. extradition to Missouri for other. charges, theft charges. How much impact. would prior bad behavior impact the kind. of plea deal the state would offer here? Even though, you know, when we're. talking about those charges, she hadn't. been necessarily found guilty of those, right, as far as my understanding is. But, you know, when you think about a. potential criminal history, how much. does that affect a plea deal in a case.

like that? >> Well, if you if you examine the plea. documents in this case, it clearly shows. that she has no prior felony. convictions. So, that was a. consideration by the district attorney's. office. um the fact that she had pending. charges elsewhere, you really would have. to look at when those charges arose as. it relates to this capital murder. offense. If they occurred after the the. conduct of the capital murder, then. usually they don't get considered by the.

DA's office or the judge in, you know, in a sentencing phase. >> What did you think of this deal? I mean, 40 years in prison, that's a long time. she will get time, you know, served, but. 40 years in prison is very different. than life in prison or the death. penalty. And the timing of the. sentencing you thought was interesting, too, right? >> I did. There's some speculation that she. was going to cooperate against her. mother and that she was going to testify. and provide some valuable information to. the district attorney in exchange for.

that plea agreement. What I found. interesting was that she plead guilty to. an amended charge of murder instead of. the capital murder in count one of her. indictment. She has a second count in. the indictment, which is a straight. murder charge. So, they could have. dismissed count one and let her plead on. count two, but they didn't. Uh, the. other thing that I found interesting was. the fact that she was sentenced. immediately following her her guilty. plea to 40 years. So any agreement that. she may have had with the district.

attorney's office to appear in the. future at a trial in an effort to you. minimize her sentence is really a moot. point at this at this stage. >> Can we expand upon that? If what happens. if she isn't truthful on the standard. prosecutors say she's reversing what she. said she was going to be saying. She's. not being truthful. Maybe she's refusing. to cooperate. What what leverage do they. have over her now? I'm not really sure that they have any. leverage. Um, that plea and sentence is.

a lawful plea and sentence. There are. delays that will expire here on the. court's ability to maintain jurisdiction. over this defendant. And and so in a. year, if the mom goes to trial and Kelly. says, "No, I'm not doing it." or she. gets up there and says something. otherwise, I don't think the state's got. a lot of uh of leverage to to impact her. sentence at that point. >> But this this could actually work in.

favor of the state in another way. Right? If she gets on the stand and she. starts testifying and giving them what. they need, it's going to it may be. difficult for a defense attorney to say, "Hey, you're saying whatever you need to. say to get a favorable deal." She be. like, "I'm already sentenced. It's. already been done. What? I I I could lie. if I want to, but I'm not. I'm telling. everybody the truth. That's another way. of looking at it, right? >> Absolutely. And I had this situation in. a capital murder case 10 years ago where.

a codefendant was took a plea to testify. against my client. Ultimately, she was. she pled and was sentenced just like. Kelly was in this case. And therefore, you know, you have that dual-edged. sword. You know, she's not going to get. any benefit if she comes forward and. coop continues to cooperate. But I can't. cross-examine her on her ability to get. a reduced sentence either. So, >> yeah. And that that's interesting. because, you know, it's one thing to. talk about someone testifying in a. murder case like this, you know, a.

codefendant, but a daughter testifying. against her mother and now you have this. added complication about the sentence. Have you ever seen that before? I don't. think I've ever seen a child testify. against a parent as a co-fendant. I've. seen them, you know, they're they're. witnesses in a case, victims in a case, but I don't think a co-defendant. I. mean, that's an interesting dynamic to. say the least. >> It is interesting, and I've never. experienced that in my 30 plus years uh. of criminal offense work. I've had.

husbands and wives charged. uh in, you know, capital murders as. codefendants, but I've never had a. child, you know, as a co-conspirator in. a case. >> What What do you think that testimony is. going to look like? What does she need. to say? >> Well, she's going to need to tell the. truth. Um, and that truth would be. whatever she did to assist her her. mother in committing these uh heinous. offenses. >> And I think the motivation would be key.

I think the way of going to that crime. scene, right? Because it's it's the idea. was right, push her off the cliff. That's the allegation to make it look. like something else. I think they need. that connective tissue, right? They do. They're going to have to draw a. connection between, you know, going back. to the the house and cleaning and and. taking the shower and then moving from. there to the murder scene. So, they're. going to have to have her be able to. testify about what the plan was and how.

it unfolded. >> Does she need to testify in a way to. show that she was in fear, that she was. reluctant to make her more credible? You. know, look, I I think about it. 40 years. is a long time in prison, but this was a. brutal crime. You wonder if that's. enough. How does she need to come off to. the jury um in a case like this in order. to get the conviction against her. mother? >> Well, uh you know, in in having done. this for 30 years, I'm confident that u. Miss Summers uh Sanderford Summerrford.

will prepare her witness to testify in a. way that she is credible to the jury. I. understand there may be some. intellectual disabilities involved with. this witness and you'll have to be. careful how you present her because of. those issues, but I think you just want. to be a sympathetic witness. Uh, you. know, and of course, defense council is. going to try and and beat her up the. best they can, but again, defense is. going to have to be sensitive to any. intellectual disabilities that might be. there to avoid appearing that they're.

badgering or beating up on the witness. unnecessarily. This case was I I don't. know if I know if the word is cold, but. it was broken uh after several years of. not having answers. It was broken wide. thanks to a credible tip. How important. is it for people with information to. come forward to law enforcement despite. the age of a crime, despite uh you know. some some of the characteristics of a. crime? Um it seems like we might not be. here if it maybe wasn't for that tip.

Well, law enforcement is always looking. for information. Uh, and and a good. investigator, a good detective, uh, is. always out there looking for the clue. that will help them, you know, break. open a case and and provide them with, you know, credible evidence and and. apparently that's what happened here. So, it's important for folks who who. know something about a crime to be. available and to to make that known to. the police. If you had to defend Carr,

what's the strategy? Is it to strike at. the evidence of the prosecution? Is it. to put the blame on her daughter? I. mean, that also becomes a question of. how you cross-examine the daughter and. what the goal might be. >> Well, I guess the biggest question at. this point, not having, you know, access. to the discovery in the case would be, we know that there's a bloody handprint. that belongs to Kelly. um is there. direct evidence that ties the mother to. the scene of the crime or, you know, to. any portion of that planning and.

preparation for it? And so if if I were. representing uh Miss Carr, you know, that's what I'm going to have to look. at. What are the direct links or the. direct evidence that connects her to. this and how do we deflect, you know, some of that uh away from our client? >> What a case. Just a savage, savage. killing. I can't get over it. Really, you know, the idea of her begging for. her life is just hard to get past. Michael P. Hanley, thank you so much for. taking the time and uh appreciate it.

Thank you. >> Enjoyed it. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us and as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse. Weber. I'll speak to you next time. [Music].