Trial Begins in 2022 Murders of Danielle Hoyle and Infant Daughter Kennedy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Shelby County, TN — The trial of Brandon Isabelle began this week in Shelby County Criminal Court. Jury selection took place Monday, September 22, and opening statements were delivered Tuesday, September 23., The State anticipates calling approximately 30 witnesses to prove its case. Based on the expected witness list and evidentiary presentation, the trial is likely to extend beyond this week and could approach two weeks in duration.

Isabelle is charged in the February 2022 deaths of Danielle Hoyle, 27, and her two-day-old daughter, Kennedy. He is facing two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse/neglect, and aggravated kidnapping.

According to prior case records and public reporting, investigators allege Isabelle lured Ms. Hoyle to meet in Whitehaven on February 1, 2022; officers soon located her car with a broken window and found Ms. Hoyle fatally shot nearby. An intensive, multi-agency search for infant Kennedy followed. Police affidavits and contemporaneous reports state Isabelle confessed to killing Ms. Hoyle and throwing Kennedy into the Mississippi River near Mud Island; Kennedy’s body has not been recovered. Isabelle has entered a not-guilty plea.

Chief Prosecutor Eric Christensen and Assistant District Attorney Dru Carpenter of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Unit are leading the prosecution.