A Memphis man accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend and dumping their newborn into the Mississippi River has been charged after allegedly admitting to his role in the family tragedy, authorities said.
Brandon Isabelle was arrested on Wednesday on two counts of first-degree murder as well as kidnapping charges in connection with the disappearance and death of Danielle Hoyle and their newborn daughter, Kennedy.
Investigators said that Isabelle had waived his rights and admitted to luring Danielle Hoyle to an area where cops found Hoyle’s abandoned car with a broken window and her lifeless body nearby with gunshot wounds, according to court documents obtained by the Commercial Appeal.
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Isabelle allegedly told police that after shooting Hoyle on Tuesday—his 25th birthday—he carried his infant daughter out of Hoyle’s car, drove up to the water and “tossed” Kennedy, who weighed just six pounds, into the river. He allegedly threw the murder weapon used to kill her mother in after her.
At a search site for Kennedy on Wednesday afternoon, Hoyle’s mom, April Campbell, told reporters that her granddaughter could have been safely dropped off at a fire station or a police station—anywhere but the Mississippi River.
“You didn’t have to hurt her,” Campbell said, according to the Commercial Appeal. “You didn’t want to take care of your child, you didn’t want to be in her life, you should have left her alone.”
“I just want to know where my grandbaby is, that’s all I want,” Campbell added.
Campbell told WREG that she last spoke with her daughter around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, when Hoyle told her she had arrived at a hospital for the baby to get some testing done.
“She was like ‘Yea, mom. I’m trying to get the baby out the car and get her in the hospital,’” Campbell told the outlet.
Campbell tried multiple times to reach her daughter after that, but didn’t hear back. Within hours, police had arrived at Campbell’s home asking about Hoyle, who she would learn had been shot to death. Hoyle leaves behind an older daughter, who is 10.
With Kennedy still missing, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents issued an Amber Alert across the state for her on Wednesday morning.
The Memphis Police Department issued an update on Wednesday evening, within hours of Isabelle’s arrest.
“Kennedy Hoyle has not been located; however, evidence suggests that she is deceased,” the update said. “The search will continue to recover her remains.”
The Memphis Police Department didn’t immediately return a request for comment regarding the status of the search on Thursday, but search crews had enlisted a dive team to scour the waters for any sign of the infant, the Commercial Appeal reported earlier on Thursday.
Campbell, meanwhile, is devastated as she grieves both her daughter and granddaughter.
“You can cry so much that tears don’t even come down your eyes anymore,” Campbell told WMC-TV on Wednesday. “I haven’t slept. I haven’t slept.”
Isabelle is being held in the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center without bail.
