When Newsom was murdered, his hands were bound behind his back, and his feet were bound together. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. In the early morning hours of January 7, 2007, Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23, were carjacked by three black males who took the young couple to a house on Chipman Street in Knoxville, TN, where the group tortured and killed them. Click to reveal A small white plastic bag was pulled over head. The following night, she had another date, this one ending in sex, she testified. May 19, 2016 - Explore Maria Narvaez's board "Channon Christian & Christopher Newsome Murders" on Pinterest. In her initial trial, Coleman was acquitted of all charges in the murder of Christian's boyfriend, Christopher Newsom. In February 2008, the trial dates for the subjects indicted in Knox County were moved to 2009. "We do this for Channon," said Channon's mother, Deena. You took my (wedding) dance away. On January 6, 2007,Channon Christian, 21 years old, a graduate from Farragut High School in Knoxville, TN. Christian, who was naked except for her camisole and sweater, was tied in a fetal position, placed inside a residential waste disposal unit, and covered with sheets. She described the fatal wound as reminiscent of an execution. Davidson's prints were also found on a box of garbage bags. "She said, 'Oh, my God, Daphne, they found a body in your house.' I stayed away.". Four males and one female were arrested, charged, and convicted in the case. Chris eventually shot to death before being set on fire, and Channon left to die with a plastic bag over her head in a trash can. Browse 5,356 autopsy stock photos and images available, or search for autopsy table or autopsy reports to find more great stock photos and pictures. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Neither Lightfoot nor Armstrong voluntarily reported any of their contacts with Boyd and Davidson to police. He pleaded guilty to official misconduct. On January 7, 2007, the young white coupleChannon was 21, her boyfriend Chris was 23was abducted, beaten, raped, tortured, and murdered. [47], After finding Christian's body and discovering the presence of Davidson's semen on her clothing and in her body cavities, police undertook a manhunt for Davidson. They then sought help from Christian's mobile phone provider and learned that her phone had last pinged at a Cherry Street phone tower. "[12] The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed Davidson's conviction and death sentences in 2016. "I did not know for sure he killed somebody," Sutton testified. [50][72] Also inside the house were several items that belonged to Christian and Newsom, including Christian's purse, clothing she had in her vehicle, Christian's shoes, camera, photographs (which were ripped and burned), and iPod and Newsom's baseball caps and driver's license. Four to go," said Gary Christian, father of Channon Christian, referring to the four suspects who face trials in state court for the killings of Channon, then 21, and her boyfriend, 23-year-old Christopher Newsom. Cobbins denied having any sexual intercourse with the female victim. [9], Boyd finally went to trial on the state charges in August 2019. I didn't want to believe it.". On the same day she left Davidson, she went out with a man she only identified as "Black" to "eat and hang out." bodily injury and death in violation of 18 U.S.C. On the witness stand, she chalked it up to denial. We see this as a cold-blooded murder. Medical examiners determined Christian was alive when the assailants placed her in plastic trash bags. Boyd's cousin, Kevin Armstrong, who is the brother of another cousin whose testimony implicated Boyd in the slayings, reluctantly testified that Boyd called him to come to Lightfoot's apartment on the night of Jan. 9. "Lemaricus Davidson decided to run a story off me about something his brother did that he was in a jam. Newsom and Christian were later found brutally carjacked, raped . Rev. At the time of her death, Shanann had been 15 weeks pregnant (via MEAWW). [11][12] Cobbins and Thomas were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. All four men denied culpability in Newsoms death. "There is absolutely no proof of a hate crime," said John Gill, special counsel to Knox County District Attorney Randy Nichols. Boyd and Davidson did not put up a fuss, she said. [39][43], A witness, who worked as a driver for Waste Connections, arrived at work on Chipman Street at around 12:30 am on January 7. The Horrific Torture & Murders of Channon Christian & Christopher Newsom | by Criminal Matters | Jan, 2023 | Medium 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. Continue with Recommended Cookies. "[147] Christian's father, addressing those whom he believes used his daughter's death to further their agenda, stated: "[the crime] ain't about you. [47][48][49][50] He was then taken to a set of railroad tracks where he was forced to walk barefoot to the location where he was murdered. She left, but not before he gave her a bag of clothing and a ring. "[29] Pitts wrote: "I am [] unkindly disposed toward the crackpots, incendiaries and flat-out racists who have chosen this tragedy upon which to take an obscene and ludicrous stand."[29][150]. autopsy later revealed that Christopher Newsom had been shot three times, once on the right side of the head, once on the right side of the neck, and once in the back. In January 2016, Thomas appealed to the United States Supreme Court[120] but the court did not agree to hear the case. Although Christian sustained multiple blows to the head and other trauma, she ultimately suffocated after being placed in the plastic bags. [71][72] Christian's body was stashed in five large trash bags. Then, they covered his head with a sweatshirt that they fastened around his neck with shoestrings. 14. However, a noon broadcast the following day commanded her full attention. "What I hear is (Lomonaco) doesn't like what's coming in (as evidence)," Stone said. He insists, however, that she escaped prosecution because she, unlike Boyd, Davidson and three others implicated in the slayings, is white and the niece of Knoxville Police Department Officer Dennis R. Bible. They tied his hands behind his back and wrapped his face in a bandana. Judge Blackwood was asked to consider the motions again for new trials. They had only been dating for a few months, but they were . My brother did something.' [15][101] The jury returned a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole on each of the four capital convictions. The assailants brought him from the vehicle and into the house while he was bound. The state argued that an impartial jury could be found during voir dire, and the presiding judge subsequently denied the motion as "premature". In the interview with Knoxville Police Department Investigators Patty Tipton and Greg McKnight, Boyd insisted everything he knew about the fatal carjacking came from Davidson. Channon's abandoned vehicle was found nearby. Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan testified that Newsom, 23, was shot and would have been dead when his body was set on fire. Instead of finding him guilty of especially aggravated armed robbery, the jury found Boyd guilty of aggravated armed robbery. and wrote that she 'loved her life!'. He was re-sentenced to life in prison by the jury, but with the possibility of parole after 51 years. [78], The four suspects indicted in Knox County were scheduled to be tried separately at trials between May and August 2008. In testimony this afternoon, Danielle Lightfoot said that Boyd and Davidson showed up on her Ridgebrook Apartments doorstep late on Jan. 9, a Tuesday. He denied a change of venue but allowed for jurors to be brought in from outside Knox County. NEWSOM, CHRIS - age 23 of Halls, went to be with the Lord Sunday, January 7, 2007. Coleman is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence set to end in 2036, officials said. Boyd later returned without the male victim. The thugs responsible for this crime are: The murders did not receive as much media attention as they should have, partly because the rape story at Duke University took precedence.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'truecrimediva_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_11',112,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-truecrimediva_com-large-leaderboard-2-0'); I REFUSE to put pictures of the killers in this post. Boyd's defense attorney, Phil Lomonaco, demanded a mistrial, arguing that the prosecutors had unfairly prejudiced jurors by trying to implicate Boyd in the fatal carjacking even though he is not charged with it. The Tennessee couple was found raped and murdered in Knoxville, Tennessee. Davidson also used Newsom's cellphone and was seen wearing Newsom's shoes. On January 6, 2007, 21-year-old Channon Christian and her boyfriend, 23-year-old Christopher Newsom, were minding their own business. [5] Eric Boyd, who had been serving his sentence of 18 years at Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley, a medium-security prison near Beaver, West Virginia, was potentially eligible for release in 2022, but found guilty on charges of rape and first-degree murder on August 13, 2019. So not only is there no evidence of any racial animus, there's evidence to the contrary. [86] The attorneys for Thomas filed a motion for a speedy trial, arguing there was no forensic link between their client and the crime scene. Specifically, he sentenced her to 25 years for the facilitation of Christian's murder, six years for the facilitation of kidnapping, and four years for the facilitation of rape. Coleman was convicted of facilitation only in the rape . [42] As Christian was suffocating to death, Davidson left to spend time with his girlfriend and gave her Christian's personal items. Newsoms killers had stuffed a sock in his mouth and bound his ankles with his belt. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. "They weren't able to carjack them, so they ordered them to drive," Boyd said in the statement. Just watched and read about the case. Boyd directed them to a vacant house. The men repeatedly raped and sodomized her; they savagely kicked or had beaten her in her genital area with an object. Christian suffered two blows to the head and was dragged into the carpeted living room. Her neck muscles had been bruised and the manner of death was deemed a homicide. Christian and Newsom's families and friends searched the Cherry Street area and found Christian's abandoned Toyota 4Runner between 1:30 am and 2:00 am on Monday, January 8. KPD Officer Ed Kingsbury testified Boyd was nabbed two days later and eventually admitted to helping Davidson hide by breaking into a vacant house on Reynolds Street. On Saturday, January 6, 2007, Christian and Newsom planned to go for dinner together and attend a friend's party. She did not mourn the broken relationship long. 23. With Bill Graves, Kendra Maples, Scott Brooks, Channon Christian. Sins and Secrets goes to Knoxville to examine the deaths of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom who disappeared shortly after they were carjacked. [43][47][53][55] Davidson's sperm was found in Christian's vagina and anus while Cobbins' sperm was found in her mouth. #searchlist {width:100%; border-bottom: 2px #e5e5e5 solid; margin: 3% 0 5% 0;} [28][145] The District Attorney denied most of the original reports containing misinformation; the source was a federal deputy US Marshal after the suspects' arrest in Kentucky.[145]. According to Boyd, Davidson, his brother and a friend needed a vehicle because they were being pursued by drug dealers to whom they owed money. [8] In 2018, Boyd was indicted on state-level charges of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder. [11][99] In June 2010, Davidson was sentenced to 80 years for other charges related to the murders. The next day, her mother phoned with news that Christian's body had been found inside a trash can in the Chipman Street house. He was later driven to nearby railroad tracks where he was shot and set afire. Update 2/10/15: One of my readers commented below that Coleman had a new trial and was re-sentenced. Her entire body was then placed inside five large garbage bags. "This was the worst crime Knoxville had experienced," Hugh Newsom told producers. "He started telling me it was his house," she said. A journal was recovered after the arrests of Thomas, Cobbins, and Coleman. She also testified that Newsom had bruising and swelling around the anus. Channon Christian (21) and Chris Newsom's (23) lives were taken on January 7, 2007 at the hands of five vicious criminals in Knoxville, TN while on a date. Channon Gail Christian, aged 21, and Hugh Christopher Newsom Jr., aged 23, were from Knoxville, Tennessee, United States.They were kidnapped on the evening of January 6, 2007, when Christian's vehicle was carjacked.The couple were taken to a rental house. The murderers and even the defense argued that Channon and Christopher desired this to happen. [30], Facing the same charges as in her first trial, on November 20, 2012, Vanessa Coleman was convicted by a jury of the facilitation of aggravated kidnapping, facilitation of rape, and the facilitation of the murder of Channon Christian, but not of Christopher Newsom. Another slaying suspect, George "G" Thomas, "was rolling a blunt," which is slang for a cigar-style marijuana cigarette, she said. He was also sentenced to another 90 years for other crimes, including especially aggravated kidnapping, robbery and rape. On Jan. 9, 2007, fingerprints in the car led to a house at 2316 Chipman St. A body was found, but not immediately identified. [49][50][51][52][53][54], Christian was held prisoner inside Davidson's house, mostly in the north bedroom. While Channon was forced to watch, her boyfriend was raped prison style. His bare and muddy feet indicated that he had walked barefoot to the area where he was killed. Evil at Sea: The Disappearance of Amy Bradley. On Monday, November 12, I drove 250 miles to Knoxville, Tennessee to attend the retrial of Vanessa Coleman for the facilitation of the rape and murder of Channon Christian. forensic - autopsy stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. #boydtrial" An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. The assailants then covered her in bleachin what forensic investigators believe wasan effort to conceal DNA evidence. "[53] Prosecutors believe that Christian was tied to a chair and orally raped by Davidson and Cobbins. "They just, I guess, a car was coming pushed them in right in the car because dude (Newsom) was giving girl (Christian) a kiss.". "It may have started out as a carjacking, but what it developed into was blacks hating whites. [24][115][116], In 2014 the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals denied Coleman's request for a new trial and upheld her sentence. [121][122][123][124] On August 13, 2019, a jury found Boyd guilty on nearly all charges, including premeditated first-degree murder and rape against both victims. [153], The Channon Gail Christian Foundation and the Channon Gail Christian Memorial Golf Tournament were established in Channon Christian's memory to provide a scholarship for a Farragut High School Senior to attend the University of Tennessee. Sure he killed somebody, '' Boyd said in the rape a sweatshirt that fastened. 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