Isabella Tennant Was Strangled to Death

The autopsy of Isabella Tennant is complete, and it turns out that the child's cause of death was strangulation. There were also other signs of injury, but those details have not yet been released. Fortunately, the slain child was not sexually assaulted, as was a concern. Today the two teens accused in connection to her death appeared in court as well.

Both John Freeman and Tyler Best pleaded "not guilty" in the strangulation death of Isabella Tennant, the missing 5-year-old found dead yesterday. This is a curiosity considering Freeman confessed to murdering the little girl yesterday after Tyler Best led police to her body -- which was stuffed in a garbage bag and thrown in a trash can near her grandmother's home.

Another curiosity is that John Freeman is only being charged with second degree murder -- a charge that indicates the death was not premeditated. So what led to this girl's murder? Was it one of opportunity? John Freeman is described as a "trusted friend" of the family, who had access to the grandmother's home at all times. He reportedly used their computer all the time. Perhaps the child irritated him while he was playing on the computer late at night, and he flew into a rage -- strangling her to death. Maybe he was a ticking time bomb, destined to be a violent offender.

Crime analyst and profiler Chelsea Hoffman can be found on The Huffington Post, Chelsea Hoffman: Case to Case and many other outlets. Follow @TheRealChelseaH on Twitter or click here to contact Chelsea directly.

Join the Conversation	You are following this conversation | stop following follow this conversation by email