The sentencing followed a guilty verdict in the deaths of Short and her unborn child.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — In Pennsylvania, Karli Short’s family returned to court June 2 to speak about the woman they lost before an Allegheny County judge sentenced Isaac Smith to life in prison without parole.
The hearing came after jurors found Smith guilty of killing Short, 26, and her unborn child in McKeesport in 2021. The trial focused on whether Smith killed Short because he believed she was pregnant with his child and feared that news would upend his other relationship. Prosecutors said Smith acted to keep his life from being exposed. The defense said he was innocent, had no motive and had told police he would help raise the child if the baby was his.
Short’s relatives described a young woman who was excited to become a mother. Her father, Brandon Short, a former Penn State and NFL linebacker, said the family would not let the murder define her memory. “Karli will not be defined by the man who took her life; she’s defined by who she was,” he said after sentencing. Relatives said she was joyful, loving and ready for the baby she expected in early 2022. Her death left the family to follow a criminal case through years of hearings before the trial began in May.
Short was found dead Sept. 13, 2021, behind a home near Furnace Alley in McKeesport, a city southeast of Pittsburgh. Authorities said she had been shot once in the head. She had been staying at her uncle’s home. Investigators said her uncle heard her talking on the phone before she stepped outside. He heard her ask whether someone was coming to the front or the back, then heard a gunshot. A neighbor found Short’s body later that morning.
The evidence later presented in court gave jurors a minute-by-minute frame for the shooting. A camera showed Short leaving through the back door at 12:22 a.m. A gunfire detection alert followed at 12:23 a.m. Prosecutors told jurors that Short had communicated with Smith about a gender reveal party two days before the shooting and believed he was the father. They said Smith’s relationship with a longtime girlfriend and his concern about what his family would learn gave him a motive to silence Short. Smith went to police headquarters the same day Short was found. He told detectives he wanted to clear his name and denied killing her. He said he and Short had been intimate only a few times and were not in a relationship. He also said he had a girlfriend and had not told her about Short’s pregnancy. During the recorded interview, Smith said he was waiting to see whether the child was his. The detectives initially believed him, Detective Mark Restori later told jurors.
The investigation later turned from Smith’s words to other evidence. Prosecutors said Smith owned a Smith & Wesson revolver that he pawned about two weeks after the killing. Ballistics testing matched that gun to the bullet in the case, according to testimony and court evidence. Prosecutors also used phone contact and the timing of Short’s final movements to place Smith in the center of the case. The defense said those pieces did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Smith was the shooter.
A late DNA result complicated the story but did not change the charges. Testing showed Smith was not the father of the unborn child. Prosecutors said the result mattered less than what Smith believed on the night Short was killed. Deputy District Attorney Ryan Kiray argued that Smith pulled the trigger before he had any DNA answer and while Short was ready to identify him as the father. Defense lawyers said the result undercut the motive prosecutors had described.
The jury sided with prosecutors May 29 and convicted Smith of two counts of first-degree murder. Jurors deliberated for about two hours. Smith, who was 30 at the time of trial, faced a mandatory life sentence. The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office had once sought the death penalty but withdrew that notice before trial. At sentencing, the judge imposed two consecutive life terms without parole, one for Short and one for her unborn child.
Smith did not address the court at the sentencing. His lawyers had said after the verdict that they were disappointed and would review the case. The defense had argued during trial that Smith had voluntarily gone to police, had denied the shooting and had given statements that were consistent with someone prepared to accept responsibility if the child was his. Prosecutors said those statements were part of the cover story and that the physical evidence told jurors what really happened.
For the family, the sentence ended one stage but not the loss. Brandon Short said one small comfort came from the DNA result because it meant the unborn child was not killed by her father. Relatives also spoke of the pain of watching the evidence unfold in court, including photos and testimony about the scene. They said they want Short remembered for her kindness and for the life she was preparing to build.
Smith is serving two life sentences without parole as of June 19, 2026. Any further action in the case would come through defense post-sentence motions or an appeal filed in the Pennsylvania courts.
Author note: Last updated June 19, 2026.