Loveless was 18 when she planned the crime. Loveless served more than 26 years in prison for murder and criminal confinement. Shipley felt his heart sink as he read the description - blonde hair, five feet tall, around 100 pounds. When they opened the trunk, Sharer sat up, covered in blood with her eyes rolled back in her head, but unable to speak. Loveless pleaded guilty to the one count of sexual battery. Larry became a marriage counselor with the church and acquired a reputation for being too forward with women, eventually attempting to rape one of them. She convinced three other teens -- Hope Rippey, Laurie Tackett and Toni Lawrence -- to participate in the crime because she believed Sharer stole her girlfriend. Sharer continued to make crying and gurgling noises, so Tackett stopped the car. During her sentencing hearingin 1993, Tackettconceded that she let opportunities to save Sharer's life slip awayand that she was too afraid to stop it. After that incident, she refused him sex for a month, until he raped her as their daughters overheard the event through a closed door. In May 1989, her mother discovered that Tackett was changing from a dress into jeans at school, and, after a confrontation that night, attempted to strangle her. Shanda Sharer, 12 years old, had been reported missing by her parents some eight hours earlier. After she washed, Tackett told the girls' futures with her "runestones". Age at death: 12 years old. During the episode, Tackett said that if she could go back, she wouldn't have been there that nightand she would have done everything in her power to stop it. She claimed that her mother beat her often. Her parents discovered the self-mutilation and checked her into a hospital on March 19, 1991. Instead, they stabbed her in the chest and strangled her with a rope before throwing her in the trunk of the car, thinking she was dead. Shanda would start attending Hazelwood Middle School and was quickly making friends. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. The murder of Shanda Sharer occured in Madison, Indiana early in the morning on January 11, 1982. Court testimony indicates that the four girls lured Sharer from her home the night of Jan. 10, 1992, on the pretense that she was being taken to meet her new girlfriend. First, they took Sharer to a remote trash dump near a logging road in a densely forested area. Lawrence was released from prison in 2000, and Rippey was released in 2006. William DeLong is a freelance wordsmith. While at Hazelwood, Shanda had met Amanda Heavrin. Tackett and Loveless were sentenced to 60 years in the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. "Ididn't know Shanda at all. Her father, a Vietnam veteran, sexually abused her and her siblings when they were younger and experts have attributed her anger to that abuse (for which he was later arrested and convicted). The conversation woke up Tackett's mother, who yelled at her daughter for being out late and bringing home the girls, so Tackett agreed to take them home. I wish I had the time to re-record. Ligature marks were found on her wrists, and she had several lacerations on her head, neck and legs. Loveless, the one angry with Sharer and the ringleader behind the murder, naturally received a longer sentence than the two younger girls, but why would Tackett take so much to the killing and earn herself the longer sentence as well? Everyone involved had been sworn to secrecy. Known For: Being Tortured and killed by 4 teenage girls. She even showed Amanda the bloody trunk and Shanda's bloody clothes. Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138. Rippey and Lawrence, while both friends of Tackett, had not previously met Loveless (16). Loveless hid under a blanket in the back seat of the car with the knife. A small memorial to Shanda Sharer in the field where she died. Dr. Phil asked Lauries mother and sister if they agreed with that statement, and they said yes. "If you don't let good things come from bad things, nothing gets better. [59][60] A few weeks following his release, Larry unsuccessfully sued the Floyd County Jail for $39 million in federal court, alleging he had suffered cruel and unusual punishment during his two-year incarceration. Melinda has also reportedly changed her name since her release and prefers to stay away from the public eyes. In January 1992, Shanda Sharer was brutally tortured and murdered by four teenage girls, led by Melinda Loveless, a 17-year-old girl from Louisville. [67], The poem In God's Arms by author Lacy Gray dedicated to the family of Shanda Renee Sharer. As a way of rebelling against her parents, the youngster shaved her head and started to engage in occult practices. Witnesses said thatLoveless plotted to kill Sharer because she believed Sharer had stolen her 15-year-old girlfriend from her. Craig Schoonover made that statement after Melinda. She confessed to her involvement and said three others were involved: Hope Rippey, then 15, Mary Tackett, then 17, and Melinda Loveless, then 16. When they divorced; Jacqueline remarried and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Shanda Sharer was an ordinary Indiana teenager in 1992 until four girls tortured her for hours before finally killing her. [3], Melinda Loveless was born in New Albany on October 28, 1975, the youngest of three daughters, to Marjorie and Larry Loveless. Melinda felt crushed, especially when Larry remarried. why taoism is often misunderstood as a superstitious religion because eric montross big grits eric montross big grits :confused:--If that's the book by true crime author Aphrodite Jones, I remember it very well Melinda was someone who had learned to nurture something, love it, then let it go, as she did with Odle last March. "I liked it because it wasn't planned," said Loveless. Upon further appeal, the judge reduced her sentence to 35 years. Loveless and Tackett were sentenced to 60 years in prison at the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. INDIANAPOLIS, IN (WTHR) - In January 1992, 12-year-old Shanda Sharer was lured from her home in Jeffersonville, tortured throughout the night and burned alive. Shanda Sharer moved to New Albany with her mother in 1991. [2] After Sharer's parents divorced, her mother remarried and the family moved to Louisville. After phoning neighbors and friends all morning, he called his former wife, Sharer's mother, at 1:45p.m.; they met and filed a missing person report with the Clark County sheriff. She was reunited with friends Tackett and Toni Lawrence, whom she had known since childhood, although her parents saw Tackett as a bad influence. She donated a puppy named Angel for Loveless to train in prison. Shanda was born on June 6th, 1979, and was born in Pineville, Kentucky. And I know what my child would want. In the back seat, Melinda Loveless was hiding under a blanket with a knife. She helped me to heal, forgive and grow, whether she wanted that or not. On the cold winter night of Jan. 10, 1992, Loveless enlisted three friends Laurie Tackett (17), Hope Rippey (15), and Toni Lawrence (15) to help her take her revenge on Shanda Sharer. Shanda Sharer, a 16-year-old girl from Missouri, was murdered in 1998. She was close friends with Rippey from childhood. Part 2: How fake witnesses, exposed surveillance operation unravel Grundy murder investigation, Burger Chef murder victim's mom had surprising thing to say after 1978 killings, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. All four girls were tried as adults and accepted plea bargains in order to avoid the death penalty. Furthermore, Melinda had a rough childhood, with her father being accused of sexual abuse. But in 2004, five years were shaved off her sentence for good behavior. For nearly eight hours, the girls sexually assaulted and tortured Shanda Sharer, except for Toni Lawrence which refused to participate in the heinous act. All rights reserved. Sharer would have been 40 years old this year. She remained on parole until December 2002. Three more hours later, they took her to another . Died: 11 January 1992. On appeal, a judge reduced the sentence to 35 years. -- The two bird hunters who found the body of 12-year-old Shanda Renee Sharer on that cold, sunny morning in January, said it looked at . She slept in bed with him until he abandoned his family when she was 14. Larry remained in prison for over two years awaiting trial; however, a judge eventually ruled that all charges except one count of sexual battery had to be dropped due to the statute of limitations, which was five years in Indiana. Loveless served more than 26 years in prison for murder and criminal confinement. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The last of four teenagers convicted of the kidnapping, torture and murder of a 12-year-old girl has been released from prison. Unfortunately, that did nothing to stop the horrific events that would soon unfold. When her parents divorced, her mother married another man and And I know what my child would want. Florida Grandma Takes Out Dentures To Scare Off Naked Intruder, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. But a dog named Angel is a dog like no other -- a four-legged conduit to Melinda's victim, Shanda Sharer. [32], Rippey told Sharer that Heavrin was still at the Witch's Castle. "It's my choice to make. The bulk of the evidence for the arrest warrant came from the statements made by Lawrence and Rippey. Shanda Rene Sharer (June 6, 1979 - January 11, 1992) was an American girl who was murdered by a group of girls in early 1992. As Shanda Sharers mother, Jacque Vaught, said in a 2012 interview, I had many times said if you want to see as close to a person who has absolutely nothing inside of them, look into Melindas eyes because theres nothing there.. The girls used the pretense that they were taking Sharer to see Heavrin as the excuse for their visit. Toni pleaded guilty to criminal confinement and received a 20-year sentence due to her cooperation. She had been stabbed, strangled, beaten and burned alive. So I get it," said Loveless from the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. And also don't understand your outrage. Tackett told people in one interview that, I didnt know Shanda at all. Its something that should have never happened., Furthermore, in an interview on Dr. Phil, the convicted killer explained why she thinks people kill. Sharer was born on June 6, 1979, in the small town of Pineville, Kentucky, to Steve Sharer and Jackie Vaught. Shanda Sharer, a young girl with a promising future, was the victim of a brutal torture death that has forever been imprinted into the minds of the locals. [2] After Sharer's parents divorced, her mother remarried and the family moved to Louisville. She claimed that living with her family in Michigan was somewhat turbulent. In October 2007, Loveless's attorney, Mark Small, requested a hearing to argue for his client's release. In 1992, four teen girls tortured and killed 12-year-old Shanda Sharer. Lastly, Loveless was released from Indiana Women's Prison on September 5, 2019. After this incident, Larry filed for divorce and moved to Avon Park, Florida. Rippey sprayed Sharer with Windex and taunted, "You're not looking so hot now, are you? She currently goes by a different name and works for a trucking company based out of Madison. Small also argued that Loveless, who was 16 years old when she signed the plea agreement, was too young to enter into a contract in the state of Indiana without consent from a parent or guardian, which had not been obtained. She served over 26 years in prison and will continue to serve parole in Jefferson County, Kentucky. MurderpediaClockwise from top left: Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence. [PREVIOUS STORY: Judge denies Loveless' request for earlyrelease in torture-killing]. That's all I've ever said.". Melinda is training Angel to help someone in need, but Angel is already helping her. Two other defendants, Toni Lawrence and Hope A. Rippey, were sentenced to 20 years and 50years respectively, according to IndyStar archives. "I saw someone who was almost reborn.". Angel is in good hands. Lawrence then phoned a friend and told her about the murder. And there's never any betrayal on either side," Jacque said. He would also embarrass his children by finding their underwear and smelling it in front of other family members. Washington, Vine Grove man accused of trying to kill a police officer, Baxter Avenue Theatres in the Highlands reopens after brief closure due to water main break, Crestwood man facing more than 100 child pornography charges, Prospect sues to stop low-income apartment development, Construction progressing for outdoor game yard at riverfront near downtown Louisville, 1 killed in collision with semi tractor-trailer on I-264 near Brownsboro Road early Tuesday, Kentucky's largest accounting, advisory firm relocating downtown Louisville office to PNC Tower, WDRB FCC Applications & Related Materials. Join us as we discuss the motive that turned teenage girls into killers and the aftermath of Shanda's murder. Small stated that he would seek to have jurisdiction over the case moved to the Indiana Supreme Court. In a new twist to the case, police have now arrested a man named Johnny Lee Sharer for . Your login session has expired. Finally, in the early morning hours, the torturers stopped at a gas station and bought a two-liter bottle of Pepsi, which they quickly emptied and refilled with gasoline. "I was really taken aback," said Jacque. In the end, Melinda and Mary pleaded guilty to murder, arson, and criminal confinement, receiving a 60-year sentence in January 1993. They removed her jewelry and began threatening to cut off all Sharer's hair before they eventually lit a fire. Full name: Shanda Rene Sharer. Catch the episode of The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade, titled The New Girl, on Investigation Discovery on August 19, 2022. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack. The four girls crossed the river to Louisville and attended a punk rock show by the band Sunspring[30] at the Audubon Skate Park near Interstate 65. She still spent most of her time in Louisville and New Albany, and, by December, spent most of it with Loveless. Sharer moved to New Albany with her mother in 1991 and developed a romantic relationship with Amanda Heavrin, a 15-year-old she met at school. Like Mary, Melindas last known location is Indiana. Shanda Renee Sharer was an American girl who was tortured and burned to death in Madison, Indiana, by four teenage girls. One of the four women convicted of beating, burning and killing 12-year-old Shanda Renee Sharer in 1992 was released Thursday from prison on the 26th anniversary of the girl's body being found.. Loveless and Tackett made Sharer strip down to her underwear; then, Loveless beat Sharer with her fists. [68], "Mean", an episode from the fifth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, is based on the murder. Her parents were Stephen Sharer and Jacqueline Vaught. It was also found that the victim's face and hands were burnt in an attempt to keep her unrecognizable and unidentifiable. [39][40], The girls went to a McDonald's restaurant at 9:30a.m. for breakfast, where they laughed about Sharer's body looking like one of the sausages they were eating. And I'm doing it for Shanda.". It is also to be noted that her body was posed in a suggestive position, very obviously meaning that this was done on purpose and with intention. Most of the crimes occurred from 1968 to 1977. Loveless hit the victims face with her knee until she bled profusely from her mouth. After her parents divorced, her mother re-married and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Mary, who was interested in the occult, even talked about holding a seance to ask Shandas ghost how it felt to be burned alive. Shanda would stay with him on . August 19, 2022 by Vim Buzz Local Correspondent American girl Shanda Rene Sharer (June 6, 1979 - January 11, 1992) was murdered in Madison, Indiana, by four teenage girls after being tortured and set ablaze. The killers looked no different than girls I knew in school who walked around, wreaking havoc and completely out of control. She was abused by a relative at age 9 and was raped by a teenage boy at age 14, although the police only issued an order for the boy to keep away from Lawrence. Her parents would eventually divorce, and Shanda's mother Jacque would move the family to New Albany, Indiana in June 1991. Shanda moved around a few times due to her parents divorcing. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Wikimedia CommonsA small memorial to Shanda Sharer in the field where she died. copilot vs ynab shanda sharer killers where are they now shanda sharer killers where are they now. State trooper David Camm and Jefferson County Sheriff Buck Shippley and detectives began an investigation, collecting forensic evidence at the scene. Date of birth: 6 June 1979. But 20 years later, something no one expected happened. [1], Shanda Sharer was born in the Pineville Community Hospital in Pineville, Kentucky, on June 6, 1979, to Stephen Sharer and his wife Jacqueline, who was later known as Jacqueline Vaught. Murderpedia Shanda Sharer's killers. And I know what my child would want. And Im doing it for her.. By the end of the night, only four of them were alive. [35], The girls drove to Tackett's nearby home and went inside to drink soda and clean themselves. Melinda Loveless has a new lease on life as a trainer of service dogs for the disabled. [19], Hope Anna Rippey was born in Madison on June 9, 1976. In Dec. 1992,Loveless pleaded guilty to the Jan. 11, 1992 murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer of New Albany. They drove north of Madison, past Jefferson Proving Ground to Lemon Road off U.S. Route 421, a place known to Rippey. After reading about the murder of Bobby Kent that inspired the film "Bully," learn about . All four girls had troubled backgrounds, with claims of physical or sexual abuse committed by a parent or other adult. After more than seven hoursof torture, the girls ended itby soaking Sharer with gasoline and burning her alive alongside a country road, evidence revealed. [31], Eventually, the four girls left for Sharer's house. Her mother was a fundamentalist Pentecostal Christian and her father was a factory worker with two felony convictions in the 1960s. Concerned about the effects of their daughter's relationship with Heavrin, Sharer's parents arranged for her to transfer to a Catholic school in late November. They drove towards Utica and the Witch's Castle. Below read an excerpt from the book and delve into the tragic . On this particular weekend Shanda had been staying with her father, Steve Sharer, and Melinda knew it. This tire-iron assault was off and on for hours as the girls went on a joyride through the countryside. Be the first one to comment on this story. Later that morning, two hunters found the body. Death of Innocence - The Murder of Young Shanda Sharer BY David Lohr Autopsy On Sunday morning, Dr. George Nichols conducted Shanda's autopsy. Loveless told Heavrin and another friend the whole story but had them promise to keep their mouths shut. The breeder convinced Vaught to watch a video of Loveless grown up and see what she does in prison for the program. [16] Tackett was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and confessed that she had experienced hallucinations since she was a young child. Jacque has faced criticism over her decision to let Shanda's killer honor her name. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the murder of Shanda Sharer. "I was the bad person.". The authorities learned that while Shanda was in middle school, she befriended an older teenager named Amanda. Meanwhile, Tackett and Loveless both received 60-year sentences. While Tackett did have a hand in killing Shanda Sharer, she was released from prison in January 2018. 125 miles away, Shanda's mother, Jacque Vaught, still endures shockwaves from her daughter's brutal murder. She enlisted the help of her friend Laurie Tackett, 17, and the latter's childhood friends Hope Rippey, 15, and Toni Lawrence, 15. Please logout and login again. [56], Tackett was released from Rockville Correctional Facility on January 11, 2018, the 26th anniversary of Sharer's death, after serving nearly 26 years, and has completed an additional year of parole.[57]. Melinda almost immediately found Amanda (the same day Shanda's body was found) and told her the whole story. Investigation Discoverys The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade: The New Girl chronicles what happened to Shanda and how four girls were responsible for her death. There, Sharer and Heavrin were confronted by 16-year-old Melinda Loveless, who had previously been dating Heavrin for more than a year and was now extremely jealous of this new pairing. 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[76] McCarty's drawing titled Melinda Loveless, Toni Lawrence, Hope Rippey, Laurie Tackett, and Shanda Sharer January 11, 1992 (1:39 am) (20002001) is now in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. As of September 2019, all four had been released from prison at various times. Jacque Vaught said she hopes to give away a service dog raised in prison every year in Shanda's name, and she is open to Melinda raising more of them. At the Witch's Castle, they took a sobbing Sharer inside and bound her arms and legs with rope. When they pulled up in front of her house, Loveless kissed Heavrin, told her she loved her and pleaded with her not to tell anyone. I was really taken aback, Vaught said after watching. He said that Loveless had been "profoundly retarded" by childhood abuse. In the summer of 1986, after she would not let him go home with two women he met at a bar, Larry beat Marjorie so severely that she was hospitalized; he was convicted of battery. More: Part 2: How fake witnesses, exposed surveillance operation unravel Grundy murder investigation, More: Burger Chef murder victim's mom had surprising thing to say after 1978 killings. When they arrived at Sharer's house at 12:30a.m., Lawrence refused to retrieve Sharer, so Tackett and Rippey went to the door. [45], All four girls were charged as adults. The story was turned into a play by Rob Urbinati called Hazelwood Jr. High, which starred Chlo Sevigny as Tackett. The grieving mother said she did it to honor her little girl, who she still thinks about every day. Loveless then convinced the other girls to take Sharer to a remote location where there would be no one else around for miles. Lawrence and Rippey were frightened and stayed in the car. While Tackett went inside to ask for directions, Lawrence called a boy she knew in Louisville and chatted for several minutes to ease her worries, but did not mention Sharer's abduction. Peer pressure. Jacque never wanted contact with any of Shanda's killers. She even carved an "M" into the stomach of one . Jacque said she still has no plans to meet face-to-face with her daughter's killers. Shanda Renee Sharer was a 12 year old who was brutally murdered and tortured by 4 teenage girls (between the ages 15 and 17) in January 12, 1992. Despite a desperate search, there was no sign of Shanda, and the family filed a missing person report. The prosecution immediately declared its intention to try both Loveless and Tackett as adults. Meanwhile, Lawrence and Rippey stayed behind in Tacketts car. Authorities quickly narrowed in on the killers four teenage girls, three of whom had never met the victim until . At around 7 am on January 11, 1992, Shandas father, Steve, realized that his daughter wasnt at home in Jeffersonville, Indiana; she had been staying with him at the time. "Peer pressure. [53] On November 14, 2008, Loveless's appeal was denied by the Indiana Court of Appeals, upholding Judge Todd's ruling. It was published February 8, 1993 and May 11, 1995 in the Jeffersonville, Indiana-based newspaper, The Evening News. [54], Lawrence was released on December 14, 2000, after serving nine years. Sharer said that she could not go because her parents were awake, and she told the girls to come back around midnight, a few hours later. Melinda was released in September 2019, and while in prison, she trained service dogs for those living with trauma and disabilities. At some point, Rippey had taken Sharer's Mickey Mouse watch and danced to the tune it played. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A classmate of a southern Indiana girl murdered in 1992 said the Indiana justice system should be ashamed of itself. MADISON, IND. Tackett was released from Rockville Correctional Facility on September 11, 2018, after serving nearly 26 years in prison and completing a year of probation. [24], Heavrin met Shanda Sharer early in the fall semester at Hazelwood Junior High when they got into a fight; however, they became friends while in detention for the altercation, and later exchanged romantic letters. In March 1991, Loveless revealed to her mother that she was a lesbian. [5], Larry worked irregularly for the Southern Railway after his military service; his profession allowed him to work whenever most convenient for him. The 1992 . She was kidnapped, tortured and burned alive by four teenage girls. Her prediction was partly true. It is alleged that Loveless, Tackett, Rippey and Lawrence came from troubled or abusive . In an interview with Shanda Sharer's mother, Jacque Vaught, on the Investigation Discovery series Deadly Women, Vaught stated that Sharer's father was so destroyed by his daughter's murder that he "did everything he could to kill himself besides put a gun to his head" and that he "drank himself to death. She became promiscuous, began to self-harm, and attempted suicide in eighth grade. She told Heavrin that they had killed Sharer and arranged to pick up Heavrin later that day. First, Melinda and Laurie stripped Shanda naked near a remote trash dump while Hope and Toni waited in the . [71], In May 2011, Dr. Phil aired a two-part series on the crime, which featured Shanda Sharer's mother and sister Paige, who both harshly confronted Hope Rippey on the show, and an interview with Amanda Heavrin. They called the police at 10:55a.m. and were asked to return to the corpse.
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