A father allegedly hurled his two-year-old daughter into a river with alligators after shooting dead his girlfriend who was the baby’s mother.
Brandon Isabelle, 28, is accused of luring his girlfriend, Danielle Hoyle, 27, to meet him in Memphis, Tennessee, and bring their child, Kennedy, in February 2022.
Isabelle shot Hoyle and tossed Kennedy into the Mississippi River where gators live, according to prosecutors.
Kennedy’s body was never found.
Isabelle was quickly identified as a suspect in 2022 and arrested after police officers found Hoyle’s body next to an abandoned vehicle.
Last month, Isabelle was recorded on video confessing to investigators that he lured Hoyle to the intersection of Levi and Sedgewick and shot her in the head, WREG reported.
Isabelle also reportedly said that he drove Kennedy to the northern part of Mud Island where the Wolf River merges with the Mississippi and hurled her into the water because he did not want her.
The dad has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and neglect and aggravated kidnapping. Isabelle has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Isabelle’s trial began on Tuesday afternoon.
State prosecutor Dru Carpenter in opening statements alleged that Isabelle was seeing another women and wanted to be with her as Hoyle was having Kennedy. Isabelle and the other woman allegedly met at Mud Island before the murders.
Prosecutors said they have DNA, video and testimonial evidence to prove Isabelle guilty.
On day two of the trial today, Hoyle’s mother, April Campbell, testified that she found out about her daughter’s relationship with Isabelle in summer 2021 and did not approve.
‘I said, “If he’s married, how do you think he’s going to treat you? If he’s not even treating his wife right, how’s he going to treat you right?”’ said Campbell.
Isabelle’s trial got underway a week after a New Orleans mother appeared in court after being busted for allegedly letting alligators attack her 12-year-old autistic son, who was discovered dead in a lagoon.
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