Man sentenced to life in prison for 2021 murder of woman, unborn child in McKeesport

A man accused of killing a pregnant woman he thought was carrying his child will spend the rest of his life behind bars without parole after being sentenced on Tuesday.

Isaac Smith was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder for the killing of Karli Short and her unborn child in McKeesport in September 2021.

Karli Short was everything to her family, especially her father, former NFL and Penn State football player Brandon Short.

"Karli will not be defined by the man who took her life; she's defined by who she was," Brandon Short said.

Brandon Short, along with Karli Short's stepmother and biological mother, spoke during Tuesday's proceedings.

Smith declined to make a statement on Tuesday.

"Having to sit in the same room as him was devastating; it's just, it's unimaginable," said Phylicia Cook, Karli Short's aunt.

Prosecutors told the court Smith killed Karli Short because he feared his long-term girlfriend would find out about Karli Short's pregnancy and it would "ruin his life." 

A DNA test of the fetus's remains showed Isaac Smith was not the father of the child Karli Short was carrying.

"For that, I'm grateful. My granddaughter wasn't murdered by her father. Her father didn't kill her; a murdering coward did. That is one small blessing in all of this," Brandon Short said.

Smith will now face the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole. Smith's lawyer hasn't ruled out appealing the verdict and sentence.

For now, Karli Short's broken-hearted family says they'll take each day as it comes, but things will never be the same.

"She would lift you up and make you feel like, 'Alright, I can do this, I can move forward.' That was Karli," Brandon Short said. "It doesn't bring her back, but it means a lot that we have justice. Justice was served today."