Eric DeWayne Boyd
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Channon Gail Christian, aged 21, and Hugh Christopher Newsom Jr., aged 23, were from
Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
, United States. They were
kidnap Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
ped on the evening of January 6, 2007, when Christian's vehicle was
carjack Carjacking is a robbery in which a motor vehicle is taken over.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is usually i ...
ed. The couple were taken to a rental house. Both of them were
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
d,
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
d, and
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
ed. Four males and one female were
arrested An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be Interroga ...
, charged, and
convicted In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by jud ...
in the case. In 2007, a
grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...
indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indi ...
Letalvis Darnell Cobbins, Lemaricus Devall Davidson, George Geovonni Thomas, and Vanessa Lynn Coleman on counts of kidnapping,
robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...
, rape, and murder. Also in 2007, Eric DeWayne Boyd was indicted by a federal grand jury of being an accessory to a carjacking, resulting in serious bodily injury to another person and misprision of a felony. In 2018, Boyd was indicted on state-level charges of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder. Four of the five defendants (Eric Boyd, Letalvis Cobbins, Lemaricus Davidson, and George Thomas) had multiple prior felony convictions. After a
jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...
trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
, Davidson was convicted and
sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
by
lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...
. Cobbins and Thomas were convicted and sentenced to
life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are co ...
without parole. Vanessa Coleman was convicted of facilitating the crimes and sentenced to 53 years. Eric Boyd was convicted at the federal level and sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for being an accessory after the fact to carjacking. He was convicted on state level charges over a decade later in 2019. All of the state convictions were initially set aside because of misconduct by the presiding
judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
, who has since been disbarred. Retrials were originally slated for the summer and fall of 2012. The orders for retrials of Davidson and Cobbins were subsequently overturned by the Tennessee State Supreme Court, and their convictions and sentences stand. The Coleman and Thomas retrials resulted in convictions, but with a reduced sentence for Coleman and the same sentence for Thomas. Controversy arose due to differing interpretations regarding the media's coverage of the murders. Many people believed that the crimes were ignored because the victims were white while the perpetrators were black. Others, including journalists, disagreed with this assertion. Efforts have been made to remember and honor Christian and Newsom. In 2014, new laws named after the victims were introduced in Tennessee. Both victims have also had memorials and scholarships named after them.


Victims

Channon Gail Christian (born April 29, 1985, in
Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and special ...
) moved from Louisiana to Tennessee with her family in 1997. She was a graduate of Farragut High School (2003), and a senior majoring in
sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
at the
University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
in Knoxville. She planned on graduating in December 2007. Channon was 21 years old when she was murdered. Hugh Christopher "Chris" Newsom Jr. (born September 21, 1983, in
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
) was a former baseball player for the Halls High School Red Devils, graduating in 2002. After high school, he attended Pellissippi State Technical Community College and became a carpenter. Newsom was 23 years old when he was murdered.


Murders

On Saturday, January 6, 2007, Christian and Newsom planned to go for dinner together and attend a friend's party. That afternoon, Christian went to a friend's apartment to get ready. At around 8:00 pm, Christian's friend went to the party, and Christian stayed behind and waited for Newsom to pick her up. Newsom arrived, and he and Christian went to the apartment complex parking lot. The assailants observed Christian and Newsom standing close to Christian's vehicle in an embrace. They then decided to attack the couple. Both were forced into the backseat of Christian's SUV at gunpoint, had their hands tied behind their backs, and were taken to Davidson's house at 2316 Chipman Street. Both Christian and Newsom were raped. Newsom is believed to have been raped inside Davidson's house. According to the testimony of the Knox County Acting Medical Examiner, Newsom was sodomized with an object and raped by at least one of the perpetrators. He was then taken to a set of railroad tracks where he was forced to walk barefoot to the location where he was murdered.
Prosecutors A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
believe a mangled dog leash found on a hillside leading up to the railroad tracks was used to force Newsom to walk to his death. When Newsom was murdered, his hands were bound behind his back, and his feet were bound together. He was blindfolded with a bandana and gagged with a sock. He wore only a shirt and underwear. Newsom was
shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 ...
in his neck and the back. Newsom survived this shooting initially, but later was shot again in the head. The fatal shot was fired with the gun's muzzle against his head above his right ear, and it severed his brain stem. After killing Newsom, the assailants wrapped him in a comforter, poured gasoline on him, and set his body on fire. Christian was held prisoner inside Davidson's house, mostly in the north bedroom. Prosecutors believe that Coleman held Christian captive while the male offenders were murdering Newsom. After murdering Newsom, the assailants returned to Davidson's house where they beat and repeatedly raped Christian. The medical examiner testified that Christian died after hours of sexual torture, sustaining severe head injuries and suffering severe injuries to her vagina, anus, and mouth due to sexual assaults. Her injuries were consistent with being raped with an object. According to the medical examiner, the sexual attack Christian endured was "extreme" and "much more than a simple sexual assault." Prosecutors believe that Christian was tied to a chair and orally raped by Davidson and Cobbins. She was also beaten, kicked in her groin, and beaten on the head. Christian suffered extensive hemorrhaging to her head and groin. Additionally, Christian suffered bruises and carpet burns on much of her body. According to Davidson's confession, during Christian's captivity, she said she "didn't want to die." While Christian was still alive, in order to remove
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
evidence, Christian's attackers poured bleach down her throat and scrubbed her body, including her bleeding and battered genital area, with bleach. Christian was bound in a hog-tied fashion with curtains and strips of bedding. Her face was tightly covered with a small trash bag, and her body was stashed in five large trash bags. Christian, who was naked except for her camisole and sweater, was tied in a fetal position, placed inside a residential waste disposal unit inside the kitchen of the home, and covered with sheets. The medical examiner testified at trial that there was evidence that Christian slowly suffocated to death. Christian died between the afternoon of January 7 and the afternoon of January 8. As Christian was suffocating to death, Davidson left to spend time with his girlfriend and gave her Christian's personal items. Davidson also used Newsom's cellphone and was seen wearing Newsom's shoes.


Investigation

After Christian and Newsom did not show up at the party, the couple's friends began calling and texting them and received no response. Later, at around 11:00 pm, two of Newsom's friends went to the apartment where the couple had been kidnapped and found Newsom's truck in the parking lot. They were unable to locate Christian's SUV. A witness, who worked as a driver for Waste Connections, arrived at work on Chipman Street at around 12:30 am on January 7. He noticed that the lights in 2316 Chipman Street were on and that the house seemed busy for the time of night. He saw a 4Runner in front of the house with its porch lights on. The witness later observed the 4Runner drive slowly by him. The car slowed down for about 20 seconds as if the occupants were "checking him out". He saw four black men in the car. Another witness who lived around one block from 2316 Chipman Street heard three pops from the direction of the train tracks at about 1:45 am. Newsom's body was discovered near a set of nearby railroad tracks on January 7 at 12:20 pm by a Norfolk Southern Railroad employee. Though there was
semen Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is a bodily fluid that contains spermatozoon, spermatozoa which is secreted by the male gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic animals. In humans and placen ...
detected on Newsom's body, the DNA had been destroyed by the fire. A comforter was wrapped around Newsom's body, and a sweatshirt was wrapped around his head. His bare and muddy feet indicated that he had walked barefoot to the area where he was killed. On January 7, Christian failed to answer calls from her mother and friend. Christian also did not attend work. The couple's friends and families tried to find them, checking local hospitals and filing missing person reports. Christian's parents requested help from
law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...
but were told that they would have to search themselves. They then sought help from Christian's mobile phone provider and learned that her phone had last pinged at a Cherry Street phone tower. Christian and Newsom's families and friends searched the Cherry Street area and found Christian's abandoned
Toyota 4Runner The Toyota 4Runner is an SUV manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota and marketed globally since 1984, across six generations. In Japan, it was marketed as the and was withdrawn from the market in 2009. The original 4Runner was a comp ...
between 1:30 am and 2:00 am on Monday, January 8. Several items were missing from Christian's vehicle, including a teddy bear and photographs Christian kept there and her phone charger and iPod. The front seats were pushed back, and Christian could not have reached the pedals. The floorboard was covered with mud, inconsistent with how Christian maintained her vehicle. Stickers Christian kept on the outside windows had been removed. Inside the vehicle was a pack of Newport cigarettes, even though neither Christian nor Newsom smoked them. Police also recovered an envelope from the vehicle that yielded fingerprint evidence leading them to LeMaricus Davidson of 2316 Chipman Street, an address two blocks from Christian's car. When police went to 2316 Chipman Street on January 9, they found the house unoccupied and Christian's body in a trash can in the kitchen. Christian's body was stashed in five large trash bags. The bags had Davidson's prints. Davidson's prints were also found on a box of garbage bags. Davidson's
sperm Sperm (: sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive Cell (biology), cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm ...
was found in Christian's vagina and anus while Cobbins' sperm was found in her mouth. 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. Several of the victims' belongings had Davidson's prints. The items from Christian's SUV were shoved into trash bags. In addition to the sperm found on Christian's body, Davidson's sperm was found on Christian's jeans while Cobbins' sperm was found on her camisole, sweater, and jeans. Shell casings found at Davidson's house matched the bullets used to kill Newsom. 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. After receiving phone calls between Davidson and Boyd, they asked Boyd for information regarding Davidson's whereabouts. Boyd directed them to a vacant house. On January 11, Davidson was arrested in the vacant house. There, police found Newsom's size 9½ Nike Shox athletic shoes and a .22-caliber High Standard revolver. Davidson was then interrogated about the murders. He told five different stories, first claiming that he had left the house on Friday and knew nothing of the crimes. He later told police that Cobbins and Thomas arrived at his house at around 10:00 pm on Friday or Saturday and informed him that they had carjacked some people who were in the vehicle. Davidson claimed he saw the victims tied up in the back seat, did not want any part of it, and left to smoke marijuana. He said he returned to the house about 20 minutes later to find Christian, who told him she did not want to die. He then used Christian's vehicle to deal drugs and wiped it clean. Davidson claimed that he did not go past the living room and that he never raped Christian. On January 11, Thomas, Cobbins, and Coleman were arrested in
Lebanon, Kentucky Lebanon is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Marion County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 6,274 at the 2020 census, up from 5,539 in 2010. Lebanon is located in central Kentucky, southeast of Louisville. A na ...
. Police seized a computer on which Thomas and Cobbins had been viewing news coverage of the murders. Police also seized a purse that contained several of Christian's belongings, including her cosmetic bag and change purse. Additionally, police found Christian's overnight bag. Cobbins gave a statement to investigators claiming that he, Davidson, and Boyd drove to an apartment complex for someone to meet a girl. When they arrived, they saw an SUV with a female in the driver's seat. She was speaking to a male. Davidson and Boyd "basically carjacked them" and ordered Cobbins to drive back to Chipman Street. According to Cobbins, Davidson took the woman into a bedroom once they arrived at the residence, and Boyd drove away with the man. Boyd later returned without the male victim. Cobbins denied having any sexual intercourse with the female victim. Coleman admitted to being present in the house during the crimes, claiming that she had been held hostage by the other defendants. A journal was recovered after the arrests of Thomas, Cobbins, and Coleman. An entry from January 9 read:
Last night was one of a kind. We stayed w/a crackhead that is cool as hell. It snowed a lil bit but it's already melted. Let's talk about adventures! I had one HELL OF AN ADVENTURE since I've been in the big T.N. 's a crazy world these days! But I love the fun adventures ndlessons that I've learned. It going to be a long interesting year!
A forensic document examiner verified that the handwriting in the entry matched Coleman's handwriting.


Perpetrators

* George Geovonni "Detroit" Thomas (born January 23, 1983) faced a total of 46 charges. Thomas was indicted on 16 counts of felony murder related to the rape, robbery, and kidnapping committed against Christian and Newsom, two counts of premeditated murder, two counts of especially aggravated robbery, four counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape, and two counts of theft. * Letalvis Darnell "Rome" Cobbins (born December 20, 1982) faced the same 46 charges as Thomas. He was also charged with assaulting a
correctional officer A prison officer (PO) or corrections officer (CO), also known as a correctional law enforcement officer or less formally as a prison guard, is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation ...
while incarcerated pending trial. In 2003, Cobbins had been convicted of third-degree attempted robbery in New York. He and Davidson are half-brothers. * Lemaricus Devall "Slim" Davidson (born June 13, 1981) faced the same 46 charges as Thomas. Davidson was originally from Memphis and had just, in August 2006, completed a five-year sentence in Tennessee on a previous felony conviction for carjacking and aggravated robbery. Davidson was also indicted for a second robbery committed at a Pizza Hut one day after the murders. * Vanessa Lynn Coleman (born June 29, 1988) was arrested by the Lebanon Police Department in her home town of
Lebanon, Kentucky Lebanon is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Marion County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 6,274 at the 2020 census, up from 5,539 in 2010. Lebanon is located in central Kentucky, southeast of Louisville. A na ...
. She faced 40 Tennessee state charges. Coleman was indicted on 12 counts of felony murder related to rape, robbery, kidnapping, and theft, one count of premeditated murder (of Christian only), one count of especially aggravated robbery (of Newsom only), four counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape, and two counts of theft. * Eric DeWayne "E" Boyd (born February 18, 1972) was arrested in connection with the fatal carjacking. He was not indicted by the Knox County grand jury in 2007 but was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Tennessee on August 23, 2007. The grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging him with being an accessory to a carjacking, resulting in serious bodily injury to another person and misprision of a felony. Later, Boyd was accused by Thomas and Cobbins of the rape and murder of Newsom and a search warrant was obtained for his DNA.Affidavit for Boyd Search Warrant
,
Knox County, Tennessee Knox County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 500,669 as of a 2023 estimate, making it the third-most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Knoxville, which is the third-most populous city in Te ...
; retrieved May 17, 2007
He was tried on state charges more than a decade later in 2019.


First trials

The four suspects indicted in Knox County were scheduled to be tried separately at trials between May and August 2008. In February 2008, the trial dates for the subjects indicted in Knox County were moved to 2009. Judge Richard Baumgartner allowed Thomas and Cobbins to be tried by juries from Davidson County (which includes
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
). The attorneys for Thomas filed a motion for a speedy trial, arguing there was no forensic link between their client and the crime scene. Thomas was granted the motion and was scheduled to go on trial on August 11, 2008. Baumgartner ruled that Thomas' phone calls from the jailhouse to his acquaintances were admissible as evidence.
District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
Randy Nichols announced that the state would seek the death penalty for both Cobbins (the first to go to trial) and Coleman if convicted. Davidson was also indicted for the Pizza Hut robbery committed the day after the murders. The publicity against the accused led the defense to argue that a
change of venue A change of venue is the legal term for moving a trial (law), trial to a new location. In high-profile matters, a change of venue may occur to move a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to wides ...
was required in order to ensure a
fair trial A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...
. The state argued that an impartial jury could be found during ''
voir dire (; often ; from an Anglo-Norman term in common law meaning "to speak the truth") is a legal term for procedures during a trial that help a judge decide certain issues: * Prospective jurors are questioned to decide whether they can be fair and i ...
'', and the presiding judge subsequently denied the motion as "premature". Judge Baumgartner threatened to ban the Newsom family from the courtroom after they called Davidson's attorney, Doug Trant, a "jerk".


Verdicts from the first trials

On April 16, 2008, Eric Boyd was found guilty in federal court of being an accessory to a fatal carjacking and of failing to report the location of a known
fugitive A fugitive or runaway is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...
. Boyd was the first to go to trial, the only suspect not charged with murder.
Accessory case deliberations to start Wed. in double murder
'', WATE.com, April 15, 2008.
He was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in federal prison. He is incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Yazoo City, a low-security federal prison in
Yazoo County, Mississippi Yazoo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,743, and was estimated to be 23,024 in 2024. The county seat is Yazoo City. It is named for the Yazoo River, which forms its weste ...
. On August 25, 2009, Letalvis Cobbins was found guilty of the murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. Cobbins faced the possibility of the death penalty because he was convicted of first-degree felony murder in the case of Christian. He was found guilty of facilitating the murder of Newsom, but he was acquitted of Newsom's rape. On August 26, Cobbins was sentenced to life without parole. On October 28, 2009, Lemaricus Davidson was found guilty. The jurors unanimously found Davidson should receive the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
on the four capital charges, two first-degree felony murder charges, and the two premeditated first-degree murders of Christian and Newsom. In June 2010, Davidson was sentenced to 80 years for other charges related to the murders. This sentence is to be served consecutively to the death penalty, while the death sentences are also consecutive. During sentencing, Judge Baumgartner said the crime was "one of the most incredibly outrageous, cruel and inhumane cases this court has ever seen." He also said, "how people can engage in this type of conduct is just unexplainable" and "there really is no sentence great enough to punish you for the conduct you have been convicted of." The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed Davidson's conviction and death sentences in 2016. On December 8, 2009, George Thomas was found guilty on multiple counts. The jury returned a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole on each of the four capital convictions. Vanessa Coleman, the last defendant to face trial, was granted
immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...
by federal authorities for testimony in the federal case of the carjacking, but the state courts ruled that the federal grant of immunity could not extend to the state charges of murder and rape. On May 13, 2010, Coleman was acquitted of first-degree murder and found guilty of lesser charges. On July 30, 2010, she was sentenced to 53 years in prison. During sentencing, Christian's father stated, "for me, personally, you took my baby. You took my opportunity to say yes to a young man one day. You took my (wedding) dance away. You took my opportunity to hold her child, my grandbaby."


Appeals and retrials

The defendants in the four state cases from the 2000s all
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...
ed their convictions. Sentencing judge Richard Baumgartner, one of Knox County's three Criminal Court judges, was forced to resign from the bench in March 2011, having admitted to drug addiction and purchasing prescription pain medication from convicts. A woman accused him of trading legal favors for sex during breaks in court sessions; Baumgartner pled guilty to official misconduct. It was held that his ability to conduct trials had been impaired during his prior two years on the bench, and he was disbarred in September. On December 1, 2011, Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood granted new trials to all four state defendants after the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is the state bureau of investigation of the state of Tennessee. It has statutory authority to conduct criminal investigations and make arrests of crimes occurring throughout the state. The bureau is ...
showed Baumgartner was likely impaired while presiding over their trials. Blackwood set retrials for between June and November 2012, pending appeals, and set
bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...
at $1 million for Coleman, the only defendant whose sentence had the possibility of
parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
. He denied a change of venue but allowed for jurors to be brought in from outside Knox County.New trial dates set for Channon Christian/Chris Newsom defendants in Knoxville
wbir.com; accessed April 17, 2017.
Due to
double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare cases ...
, the defendants faced at maximum the sentences they had already received, and thus only Davidson was eligible for capital punishment. Prosecutors conceded Baumgartner had been impaired during Coleman's trial but appealed the decision to retry Davidson, Cobbins, and Thomas. The decision to hold retrials for them was affirmed in a two to one decision by the
Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals The Court of Criminal Appeals is one of Tennessee's two intermediate appellate courts. It hears trial court appeals in felony and misdemeanor cases, as well as post-conviction petitions. Appeals in civil cases are heard by the Tennessee Cou ...
on April 13. In May 2012, the
Tennessee Supreme Court The Tennessee Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of Tennessee. The Supreme Court's three buildings are seated in Nashville, Knoxville, and Jackson, Tennessee. The Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, and four justice ...
overturned Blackwood's ruling ordering new trials for Cobbins, Davidson, and Thomas, saying that a trial judge's misconduct outside the courtroom does not necessarily require a new trial unless the misconduct is shown to have affected the trial proceedings, but that its decision "should not be construed as condoning or excusing" Baumgartner's misconduct. Judge Blackwood was asked to consider the motions again for new trials. In June 2012, Judge Blackwood again granted new trials for Davidson, Cobbins, and Thomas, basing his decision on the "13th juror rule". Prosecutors filed to have Judge Blackwood recused from the case, citing Blackwood's emotional involvement, his '' ex parte'' communication with the defense, lack of candor with the local media, and Supreme Court guidance that recusal should be considered before any other action. Following Blackwood's recusal, Senior Judge Walter Kurtz was named to oversee the retrials and the decisions to grant them. Retrials were denied for Cobbins and Davidson, and granted for Thomas and Coleman.


Verdicts from the retrials

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. These convictions were on lesser charges than her initial convictions. While the retrial was conducted in Knoxville, the jury for the retrial was selected from
Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...
, more than 300 miles west of Knoxville. Coleman's lawyers argued that she should receive a 20-year sentence, while prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of nearly 50 years. Blackwood sentenced Coleman to 35 years in prison on February 1, 2013, minus credit for time already served. 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. During sentencing, Blackwood commented that "the psychological torture of this unfortunate victim was immense." He also called the crime "the most horrible" murder case he had seen. In 2014 the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals denied Coleman's request for a new trial and upheld her sentence. Judge Thomas T. Woodall wrote in his opinion: "The facts at trial showed that (Coleman) was in the (Chipman Street) house for nearly two days where (Christian) was confined and brutally raped before she was tied up, wrapped in five plastic trash bags and stuffed into a garbage can, where she died from asphyxiation...In … journal entries (written after the slayings, Coleman) described 'one hell of an adventure in the big T.N.' and wrote that she 'loved her life!'. This evidence supports the trial court's finding that (Coleman) is a dangerous offender." On May 17, 2013, the retrial of George Thomas (with a jury empaneled in Nashville) ended in a verdict of guilty on all 38 counts. He was re-sentenced to life in prison by the jury, but with the possibility of parole after 51 years. On June 4, 2013, Judge Kurtz sentenced Thomas to two life sentences (consecutive) for the murders and 25 years (multiple concurrent) for the rapes. In 2015, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Thomas's conviction. In January 2016, Thomas appealed to the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
but the court did not agree to hear the case.


State trial for Eric Boyd

On March 20, 2018, eleven years after the murders, a Knox County grand jury returned a thirty-six-count indictment charging Eric DeWayne Boyd with first-degree felony murder, first-degree premeditated murder, especially aggravated robbery, especially aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated rape in the murders. Boyd was transported from a Federal Correctional Institution in Yazoo City, Mississippi, and booked into the Knox County Jail, where he was held on a $1 million bond. Boyd finally went to trial on the state charges in August 2019. Unlike the other trials, owing to a long passage of time between the murders and this trial, the jury was empaneled in Knoxville and not sequestered. Co-defendant George Thomas testified as a witness in the Boyd trial. In exchange for his testimony, Thomas was allowed to have his first-degree murder convictions reduced to second-degree murder, his aggravated rape convictions reduced to aggravated assault, and his sentence reduced from life in prison with the possibility of parole to 50 years (two 25-year terms with the opportunity to reduce his sentence by up to 15 percent based on good behavior during incarceration). On August 13, 2019, a jury found Boyd guilty on nearly all charges, including premeditated first-degree murder and rape against both victims. He was also convicted on charges of carjacking, robbery, and kidnapping. Boyd was found guilty of lesser charges on two counts. Instead of finding him guilty of especially aggravated armed robbery, the jury found Boyd guilty of aggravated armed robbery. The judge immediately sentenced Boyd to life in prison as this was automatic for a murder conviction. He was also sentenced to another 90 years for other crimes, including especially aggravated kidnapping, robbery and rape. Boyd's request for a new trial was denied by Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee in 2019. In 2021, Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Timothy L. Easter also denied Boyd a new trial. In March 2022, the Tennessee Supreme Court denied Boyd another appeal of his convictions.


Incarceration status

Vanessa Coleman, the only female charged and convicted in the crimes, is held at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville. Serving a 35-year sentence, Coleman was eligible for parole in 2017 and her sentence expires on April 18, 2036. In August 2014, the families of the victims were notified that with good behavior, Coleman's sentence was being reduced by 16 days per month of incarceration, making her eligible for parole consideration in October 2014. The parole hearing was rescheduled from October to December. At the December 2014 hearing, Coleman was denied parole and her next parole consideration date was set for December 2020. Coleman again went before a
parole board A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdiction ...
on December 8, 2020. Christian's and Newsom's mothers and Christian's father gave statements to the board opposing parole. The seven board members voted unanimously to deny Coleman parole and ensure that she would not be eligible to go before a parole board again for ten years. Cobbins and Thomas were originally incarcerated at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. After the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville opened in 2013, they were transferred to that facility. Cobbins is currently serving a life sentence without parole at the
Northwest Correctional Complex The Northwest Correctional Complex is a state prison located in Tiptonville, Tennessee, Tiptonville, Lake County, Tennessee. It is owned and operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction. The facility can hold 2,391 inmates at a range of sec ...
. Thomas is incarcerated at the Northeast Correctional Complex. His sentence ends in May 2053. Davidson was sentenced to death on October 30, 2009, and is incarcerated at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Eric Boyd, who had been serving his sentence of 18 years at
Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley The Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley (FCI Beckley) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in West Virginia. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice ...
, a medium-security prison near
Beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
,
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
, was potentially eligible for release in 2022, but found guilty on charges of rape and first-degree murder on August 13, 2019. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison by the judge, who stated that a life sentence was automatic for the murder conviction. Boyd is incarcerated at the Turney Center Industrial Complex.


Reaction

According to the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
, some bloggers and media critics claimed that the national media ignored the murders because the victims were white while all five suspects were black. Most news reports came from local media and online news sites. Erroneous early reporting made claims of
dismemberment Dismemberment is the act of completely disconnecting and/or removing the limbs, skin, and/or organs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with regicid ...
and
mutilation Mutilation or maiming (from the ) is Bodily harm, severe damage to the body that has a subsequent harmful effect on an individual's quality of life. In the modern era, the term has an overwhelmingly negative connotation, referring to alteratio ...
of Christian's body.Satterfield, Jamie.
Slaying victims lost in the furor
". ''
Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel'', also known as ''Knox News'', is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: '' ...
'', May 27, 2007.
The
District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
denied most of the original reports containing misinformation; the source was a federal deputy U.S. Marshal after the suspects' arrest in
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
. The president of Criminal Justice Journalists, an association of crime, court, and prison writers, editors, and producers, said:
I can't say that this one would have had any more coverage if five whites had been accused of doing these things to two blacks, absent a blatant racial motive... as bad as this crime is, the apparent absence of any interest group involvement or any other 'angle' might also explain the lack of coverage.
Police Chief Sterling Owen IV said that there was no indication that the crimes were racially motivated. "We have no evidence to support the notion that this was a race-based crime. We see this as a cold-blooded murder." "There is absolutely no proof of a
hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...
," said John Gill, special counsel to Knox County District Attorney Randy Nichols. "We know from our investigation that the people charged in this case were friends with white people, socialized with white people, dated white people. So not only is there no evidence of any racial animus, there's evidence to the contrary." Some commentators disagreed, claiming that such a crime represented motives of racial hatred.
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
political commentator
Michelle Malkin Michelle Malkin (; Maglalang; born October 20, 1970) is an American conservative political commentator. She was a Fox News contributor and in May 2020 joined Newsmax TV. Malkin has written seven books and founded the conservative commentary ...
repeated this opinion on her blog and on
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
' ''
The O'Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...
'' program. Newsom's mother also disagreed with the assertion that the offenders were not motivated by racism. "If this wasn't a hate crime, then I don't know how you would define a hate crime," said Newsom's mother. "It may have started out as a carjacking, but what it developed into was blacks hating whites. To do the things they did, they would have to hate them to do that." Christian's father, addressing those who he believes used his daughter's death to further their agenda, stated: " he crimeain't about you." On May 27, 2007, fewer than 30
white supremacists White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine o ...
, led by Alex Linder, rallied in downtown Knoxville to protest against the murders. They were met by more than 300 law enforcement officers. About twice as many counter-protesters as protestors attended, including the "Coup Clutz Clowns", an activist group which mocks the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
. After the protest, columnist
Leonard Pitts Leonard Garvey Pitts Jr. (born October 11, 1957) is an American commentator, journalist, and novelist. He is a nationally syndicated columnist and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. He was originally hired by the ''Miami Herald' ...
dismissed claims that the crime was under-reported. He cited
2001 report
by the Berkeley Media Studies Group, which found that "Blacks and Latinos are underrepresented in news media as victims of crime and significantly overrepresented as perpetrators." 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." Rev. Ezra Maize, the president of the Knoxville chapter of the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
, addressed the case, saying:
It doesn't make me uncomfortable speaking out against this crime because it was African Americans llegedlycommitting a crime against Caucasians ... It's not a black-and-white issue. It's a right-and-wrong issue. Those who committed this crime were unjust in doing so, and they should pay the penalty.
The house at 2316 Chipman Street was bought by Waste Connections, a national garbage collection company with a depot on the next lot. Waste Connections demolished the house in October 2008. The company's intent was to replace the house with a memorial dedicated to Newsom and Christian. A memorial to Newsom and Christian was created at the location where the house once stood.


Legacy

The Channon Gail Christian Foundation and the Channon Gail Christian Memorial Golf Tournament were established in Channon Christian's memory to provide a
scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...
for a Farragut High School Senior to attend the University of Tennessee. A foundation has also been established in Newsom's name. The foundation holds an annual memorial baseball tournament at the Halls Community Park. A memorial scholarship is given annually in his name to a graduating Halls High School baseball player. Channon Christian's father, Gary Christian, speaks at churches proclaiming how, in Spring 2017, he asked God to restore him from his pervasive anger. He presents testimony of how he is overcoming the anger that most East Tennesseans saw played out during news articles throughout the trials and appeals.


Legislative changes

Thanks to lobbying from the families of the victims, two new laws were introduced in 2014 as a result of the case: *The "Chris Newsom Act" was introduced to eliminate the need for a judge's signature on a jury verdict after the delivery of a unanimous verdict. This thus eliminates the '13th juror' rule, which stipulates that a judge must validate a jury's verdict. Had such a law been in place during the case, the retrials would have been avoided. *The "Channon Christian Act" restricts attorneys and defendants in attempting to portray a victim in a negative light, such as making allegations about their behavior. During the trial, Davidson had alleged that his victims had come to his house to buy drugs. According to Christian's mother, her family felt great pain as a result of listening to defense attorneys question Christian's character during multiple trials. Meanwhile, due to laws protecting the accused, the jury was not allowed to be informed of Davidson's previous carjacking conviction.


See also

*
List of kidnappings The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings. By date * List of kidnappings befo ...


References


External links


Extensive news coverage of the deaths in January 2007 of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom in Knoxville, TN
''
Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel'', also known as ''Knox News'', is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: '' ...
'' * *, Volunteer TV * Martin, Roland S.
"Commentary: Where is the outrage when humans are abused?"
''
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
'' *, Volunteer TV
Victim's father: "One down, four to go" (extensive details of the crimes)
knoxnews.com, April 16, 2008
Channon Gail Christian Foundation
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