Police: McKeesport man tells girlfriend going to see puppy; instead he killed mother of his unborn child
Nov. 6—A man accused of killing the mother of his unborn child told another woman he was leaving her to see a friend's new puppy the night he carried the pre-planned murder, police say in court paperwork.
Allegheny County Police say Isaac Christopher Smith, 25, of McKeesport shot 26-year-old Karli Short in the head behind the 25th Street home she shared with an uncle shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 13.
Police arrested Smith Friday night. He was denied bail at an arraignment Saturday and sent to the Allegheny County Jail.
Short was five months pregnant with Smith's child, police said in a criminal complaint against Smith. Members of Short's family knew Smith only by his first name and that he may have worked at a bank in McKeesport, but no one in the family had ever met him.
McKeesport police were able to identify Smith because a detective was familiar with him and had seen him at the bank, court records state.
Allegheny County Police obtained search warrants for cell phone records and conducted forensic downloads of cell phones as part of their investigation of Short's murder.
In the court filing, police said they found no information on Smith's phone that he had told anyone about Short's pregnancy. According to a download of his phone, Short sent him text messages on Sept. 11, two days before she died, asking him for money and discussing plans for a gender reveal party, which Smith was expected to attend.
A woman identified as Smith's girlfriend told police that Smith left her home in McKeesport around 11 p.m. on Sept. 12 to see a friend's new puppy in Homestead, and that Smith sent her a text at midnight, the complaint states.
The McKeesport police's ShotSpotter system recorded a gunshot in the area of 25th Street at about 12:23 a.m. on Sept. 13.
According to the complaint, Short's uncle heard her talking with someone on the phone, and ask, "Are you coming to the front or the back?"
Police said Smith called Short at 12:20 a.m. using a Tracfone that another person had obtained for him in August. The call, made from near Short's home, lasted 1 minute and 20 seconds.
Short walked to the back of the house, and the uncle heard the alarm system announce that the back door was open.
The uncle said he heard a gunshot and started calling out for Short.
Saying he is disabled and unable to walk to the back yard, the man assumed Short went with whoever she was meeting in the back alley.
He told police that gunshots are not uncommon in the neighborhood.
Short's body was not found for about 10 hours. McKeesport police were dispatched to the address in response to the discovery of a body in the back yard shortly after 10:30 a.m.
Video from the alarm system shows Short walk out the back door at 12:22 a.m., but does not clearly show the area where her body was found, which was on a sidewalk next to a garage adjacent to Furnace Alley.
Police said that during an interview the night of Sept. 13, Smith said he had a sexual relationship with Short, that she told him she was pregnant and that he was the father. Smith said he attended one of Short's prenatal appointments, the complaint states.
Smith claimed he was with another woman that he said was his girlfriend at her home in McKeesport late on the evening of Sept. 12 and into the next morning of Sept. 13.
No attorney was listed for Smith in court records.
Smith's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 24.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Brian at 724-226-4701, brittmeyer@triblive.com or via Twitter .
