The third day of the trial of murder suspect Brandon Isabelle saw several first responders take the stand.
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Jury hears suspect's confession and conditions of the search for 2-day-old baby
The trial of Brandon Isabelle, who is accused of killing his girlfriend and throwing their 2-day-old baby into the Mississippi River, continued with testimony from first responders on Thursday.
First responders from multiple agencies, including the Memphis Police Department and what is now the Shelby County Sheriff's Water Recovery Unit, took the stand to describe the search for 2-day-old Kennedy Hoyle.
Agencies called on to help search for Kennedy near the boat ramp of Mud Island Park, including the Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, and a dive team out of Brighton, Tennessee.
Upon looking at a photo, Sgt. Smith confirmed that a cap, believed to belong to Kennedy, was found at the scene. According to Smith, the hat was the only piece of evidence collected at the scene.
An ice storm delayed the search for several days. Smith also states that investigators, at one point, believed the gun used in Hoyle’s murder may have been thrown into the river, but it was never recovered.
Bourland was called to Mud Island to assist in the dive efforts to find Kennedy. He recalls that the water was rather dark and cold, clocking in at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. He also states that sonar was used, but neither Kennedy Hoyle nor any other evidence was found during the search in the river.
Bourland also stated that underwater rocks and cervices provide a lot of potential hiding spots for a gun, making the search much more difficult.
Winfrey told the court that he and the diving team made the scene in the early afternoon of Feb. 2. He reaffirms what Bourland previously said regarding the use of sonar in the search. He added that while using the device underwater, divers can’t really see and are unaware of how deep they are.
Additionally, Winfrey stated that sonars picked up signals from unimportant terrain features underwater, including rocks and vegetation, which he called “riff raff”.
He testified that those conditions would make it very difficult to find the gun, as well as baby Kennedy, who would have been particularly difficult to find, given her size and young age.
Tweed is shown a video of the Mississippi River, and, along with other investigators in the trial, restate that the water levels on the river constantly change, stating that the water was particularly high on the day of the search.
He also reiterated how difficult the search for the gun and Kennedy was due to the conditions of the water at the time.
Following a long break, uninterrupted video footage of Isabelle’s interrogation was played. Before the footage started, Winbush told the courtroom that Isabelle informed detectives that he was aware of Danielle Hoyle’s disappearance.
Isabelle can be briefly heard on tape saying he met with Hoyle at a Mapco briefly to drop off some items before leaving her, according to Winbush.
Throughout the video, investigators are heard reading Isabelle his rights. Isabelle himself can be heard saying he keeps a Glock 19 pistol in a holster inside his waistband.
Later in the tape, investigators ask Isabelle directly if he knows what happened to Danielle Hoyle and if he killed her.
Isabelle tells the investigators that he and Danielle drove to the location where Danielle’s body was later found and talked. He initially stated that Danielle tried to give Kennedy away, going so far as to say that Danielle’s mother called her during their conversation.
When investigators ask about Danielle Hoyle, Isabelle claims he does not know what happened, and that he did not kill her.
Detectives later demand that Isabelle tell the truth after drawing inconsistencies in his story, questioning why a mother would allow her newborn to stay with him.
Isabelle eventually admits to shooting Danielle in her upper body after she turned toward him, although he was unable to specify the number of times he shot her. He also admits to throwing his gun into the Mississippi River.
He also expressed to investigators that he felt as though he was under a lot of pressure to get his life on track while dealing with a divorce and stated to detectives that women did not want to see him, in reference to Artesha Stewart.
The video ends after investigators ask Isabelle if he threw the Kennedy into the water. Isabelle can be seen shaking his head. The detective repeats the question before Isabelle covers his face. He mumbles a reply, but his exact words cannot be heard on video.
Investigators repeatedly ask Isabelle where he left Kennedy. Isabelle eventually tells investigators that he put Kennedy on the ground near the river.
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