In tears and fearful for her life, Sharer tried to respond but to no avail. Loveless and Tackett were sentenced to 60 years in prison at the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. And I know what my child would want. 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. [47] Loveless and Tackett were arrested on January 12. Rippey came out of the car to hold down Sharer. Melinda Loveless, now 43, left the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis after serving nearly 24 years of a 60-year sentence for the brutal murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer in 1992. First, they took Sharer to a remote trash dump near a logging road in a densely forested area. She was sincere. Full name: Shanda Rene Sharer. The girls used the pretense that they were taking Sharer to see Heavrin as the excuse for their visit. There, Loveless taunted that she had pretty hair and wondered how pretty she would look if they were to cut it off, which frightened Sharer even more. When the people of Madison, Indiana heard that a brutal murder had been committed in their midst, they were . They beat her, sodomized the 12-year-old with a tire iron, choked her with a cord, and sliced her legs with a knife. Angel is in good hands. Furthermore, Melinda had a rough childhood, with her father being accused of sexual abuse. In 1992, 12-year-old Shanda Sharer was brutally murdered by four other girls. [66], The poem The Whole World Is Singing by Daphne Gottlieb, is told from the point of view of Shanda Sharer and includes lines from notes written from Shanda Sharer to Amanda Heavrin. 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. [49] Tackett was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and suffering from hallucinations. 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.. Tackett, who was 17 at the time of the killing, was charged as an adult and sentenced to 60 years in the Indiana Women's Prison in 1993 alongside co-defendantMelinda Loveless of New Albany. 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? Shanda Renee Sharer (June 6, 1979 - January 11, 1992) was an American girl who was tortured and burned to death in Madison, Indiana by four teenage girls. "I've loved her, I've cried on her. It is alleged that Loveless, Tackett, Rippey and Lawrence came from troubled or abusive . She's like my kid," said Loveless. Melinda Loveless, 17, Laurie Tackett, 17, Hope Rippey, 16, and Toni Lawrence, 16, plotted to murder Shanda as retaliation for Shanda dating Loveless's ex-girlfriend, Amanda Heavrin. So, lets find out more about this case then, shall we. Her parents, Stephen Sharer and Jacqueline Vaught got divorced when Shanda was very young. Both Heavrin and Wathen were reluctant to believe the story until Tackett showed them the trunk of the car with Sharer's bloody handprints and socks still present. Shanda Sharer moved to New Albany with her mother in 1991. Sharer was tortured, beaten and burned in a rural area of Jefferson County, Indiana. The Events Leading to the Murder At the time of her murder, Shanda Renee Sharer was the 12-year old daughter of divorced parents, attending school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic school in New Albany, Indiana, after transferring the previous year from Hazelwood Middle School. Shipley then started the paperwork to get warrants for the arrest of Laurie Tackett and Melinda Loveless. After more than seven hoursof torture, the girls ended itby soaking Sharer with gasoline and burning her alive alongside a country road, evidence revealed. [22], Toni Lawrence was born in Madison on February 14, 1976. The man definitely died from a broken heart".[61]. [73][74], The Investigation Discovery series The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade, episode "The New Girl" interviews Sharer's mother along with lead police officers, aired: November 2018. [3], Melinda Loveless was born in New Albany on October 28, 1975, the youngest of three daughters, to Marjorie and Larry Loveless. They drove north of Madison, past Jefferson Proving Ground to Lemon Road off U.S. Route 421, a place known to Rippey. Lawrence remained in the car while Tackett and Rippey wrapped Sharer, who was still alive, in a blanket, and carried her to a field by the gravel country road. The case was covered on national news and talk shows and has inspired a number of episodes on fictional crime shows. At 2:30a.m., Lawrence and Rippey stayed behind as Tackett and Loveless went "country cruising", driving to the nearby town of Canaan. There had been just three other murders in the previous 12 years in the County, and none of them were as gruesome. Like Mary, Melindas last known location is Indiana. Tackett proceeded to stab Sharer several more times before driving off once more with Loveless to beat and sodomize Sharer with a tire iron. After an inter-county investigation, Shippley contacted the Clark County sheriff and was finally able to match the body to Sharer's missing person report. 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. Clockwise from top left: Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence. Then, discover the story of teenage serial killer Harvey Robinson. Then, the three girls drove to pick up Heavrin and take her back to the Loveless home, where they told Heavrin the story. My child would want this.". [41], A friend of Loveless, Crystal Wathen, came over to Loveless's house, and they told her what had happened. Moreover, she had not been represented competently by counsel during her sentencing, which caused her to accept a plea bargain in the face of exaggerated claims about her chances of receiving the death penalty. She has chosen to keep her life private since then, and not much is known about what she currently does; her last known location remains to be Indiana. In March 1991, Loveless came out as a lesbian to her mother, who was initially furious but eventually accepted it. And I know what my child would want. [8], The Loveless parents would often visit bars in Louisville where Larry would pretend to be a doctor or a dentist and introduce Marjorie as his girlfriend. I would thank her. [3] When her mother divorced again, the family moved in June 1991 to New Albany, Indiana, and Sharer enrolled at Hazelwood Middle School. But 20 years later, something no one expected happened. 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. Loveless ordered Sharer to slip off her bra, which she then handed over to Rippey, who slid off her own bra and replaced it with Sharer's while steering the car. Sharer and Heavrin became fast friends and then romantic partners. After she washed, Tackett told the girls' futures with her "runestones". The girls drove around for the next few hours as they tortured Shanda. Investigation Discovery's ' The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade: The New Girl' chronicles what happened to Shanda and how four girls were responsible for her death. They lived in or near New Albany throughout Melinda's childhood. Sharer continued to make crying and gurgling noises, so Tackett stopped the car. Melinda was someone who had learned to nurture something, love it, then let it go, as she did with Odle last March. For seven hours, the four girls brutally tortured Shanda Sharer before ultimately killing her. The incident attracted international attention due to both the brutality of the murder and the young age of the perpetrators, who were aged . Shes my child. The grieving mother said she did it to honor her little girl, who she still thinks about every day. The 12-year-old seemed to have things working for her, and when she went missing, she was enrolled in a Catholic school. "We bring our challenges, many times, to Melinda because she's able to figure out what their strength is," said Sally Irvin of ICAN. "I saw someone who was almost reborn.". The same morning, a hunter found a badly burned body out in a field in Madison and called the authorities. Mary, Hope, and Toni drove to Shandas fathers place to lure her out sometime after 11:30 pm. A burn victim like Shanda, Charlie Petrizzo convinced Jacque to watch a videotape of the new Melinda. Shanda Renee Sharer was born June 6th 1979 in Pineville, Kentucky. She remained on supervised parole until April 2011. So, lets find out more about this case then, shall we? The murder of Shanda Sharer occured in Madison, Indiana early in the morning on January 11, 1982. Parents: Jacqueline Vaught, Stephen Sharer. When they divorced; Jacqueline remarried and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. The 1992 . "She helped me to heal, forgive and grow, whether she wanted that or not," Loveless said through tears, "She did a good thing. Did The U.S. Lastly, Loveless was released from Indiana Women's Prison on September 5, 2019. [42], Later on the morning of January 11, 1992, two brothers from Canaan were driving toward Jefferson Proving Ground to go hunting when they noticed a body on the side of the road. There she met Loveless; the two became friends in late November. [29] Loveless was angry at first, but Rippey and Lawrence assured her about returning for Sharer later. INDIANAPOLIS The last of four women charged as teenagers with the 1992 torture murder of a southern Indiana 12-year-old has been released from prison. The whole thing happened around the jealousy stemming from lesbian relationships. As the four girls ate breakfast at McDonalds just after the killing, the four girls laughed as they compared their sausage breakfast to Shanda Sharers burnt corpse. [16] Tackett was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and confessed that she had experienced hallucinations since she was a young child. 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. During Loveless's sentencing hearing, extensive open court testimony revealed that her father Larry had abused his wife, his daughters, and other children. You have permission to edit this article. "You know what, I didn't believe it," said Loveless of the gesture. She would often attempt to impress her friends by pretending to be possessed by the spirit of "Deanna the Vampire". Jacqueline made her daughter switch schools, and that seemed to work. Just to be sure their work was finished, Loveless had them return a few minutes later to pour some more gasoline on her, watch her writhe in agony, and finally confirm that she was dead. Loveless was 18 when she planned the crime. "I was really taken aback," said Jacque. Veteran journalist and host of Investigation Discovery's "True Crime with Aphrodite Jones", Jones reveals the shocking truth behind the most savage crime in Indiana history-the torture, mutilation, and murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer by four teenage girls. She demanded that the board be burnt and that the Rippey house be exorcised. Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138. Jun 20, 1992 at 12:00 am. Her father was a boilermaker. Her mom said that her daughter believed it was her destiny that she would murder someone in cold blood and spend the rest of her life in prison. The Shanda Sharer Murder has forever changed my life. The procedure revealed that she had suffered multiple injuries. [6] In 1988, Larry briefly worked as a mail carrier, but quit after three months and did very little work, having brought most of his mail home to destroy it. Two days later, with her girlfriend and Toni Lawrence, Tackett cut her wrists deeply and was returned to the hospital. The fifth had been tortured and mutilated nearly beyond recognition. "[38], The girls drove to a gas station near Madison Consolidated High School, pumped some gasoline into the car, and bought a two-liter bottle of Pepsi. [PREVIOUS STORY: Judge denies Loveless' request for earlyrelease in torture-killing]. Tackett and Loveless were sentenced to 60 years in the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. 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. This tire-iron assault was off and on for hours as the girls went on a joyride through the countryside. He filed for bankruptcy in 1980. The story was turned into a play by Rob Urbinati called Hazelwood Jr. High, which starred Chlo Sevigny as Tackett. The bulk of the evidence for the arrest warrant came from the statements made by Lawrence and Rippey. That's all I've ever said.". Vaught stated that she hoped to donate a dog every year in honor of Shanda Sharer. In 2012, Jacque Vaught made her first contact with Melinda Loveless since the trials, although indirectly. Known as one of the youngest serial killers ever, Mary was just 10 when she murdered two boys, age four and three, both by strangulation. 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. In November, 1988, Minato (then using the first name Nobuharu) and Hiroshi Miyano (now using the surname Yokoyama), worked together to abduct Junko Furuta as she commuted home from a part-time job. Tackett was released from Rockville Correctional Facility on September 11, 2018, after serving nearly 26 years in prison and completing a year of probation. An Indiana Department of Correction spokeswoman says 44-year-old Melinda Loveless was released from the Indiana Womens Prison in Indianapolis on Thursday after serving 23 years and eight months of a 60-year sentence for the murder and criminal confinement of Shanda Sharer in 1992. Her mother was a fundamentalist Pentecostal Christian and her father was a factory worker with two felony convictions in the 1960s. She took up Charlie, the breeder, on his idea to donate a puppy in Shanda's honor, and she let Melinda loveless train her. Shanda Sherer Shanda Sherer Shanda Sherer was born on June 6, 1979, in Pineville, Kentucky. She remained on supervised parole for 5 years until April 2011. [69][70], The Cold Case second-season episode "The Sleepover" is loosely based on this crime. When her parents divorced, her mother married another man and She was sentenced to 60 years in prison but has served the required [] MADISON, Ind. There had been just three other murders in the previous 12 years in the County, and none of them were as gruesome. Shanda Sharer's mother and murderer form unlikely alliance, 1 dead in crash on I-264 West in Brownsboro Road area; all lanes reopened, 18-year-old killed in west Louisville hit-and run identified; police searching for suspect, PREVIOUS STORY: Judge denies Loveless' request for earlyrelease in torture-killing. They returned to the car but became lost again and pulled up to another gas station. It was only when the puppy, Angel, ran into her arms the first time they met in a crowd of people that Loveless believed it. The four girls abducted Sharer from her house at midnight on the pretext of driving her to meet Amanda in an abandoned building, where they tied her up and taunted her. It was a crime of passion and peer pressure committed by four teenage girls. The Killing Field. If the judge accepted these arguments, Loveless could have been retried or released outright. I've given her medicine, her baths. 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. They left soon after, fearing they had drawn attention to themselves. Melinda Loveless, now 43, left the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis after serving nearly 24 years of a 60-year sentence for the brutal murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer in 1992. While the four decided never to talk about it, Toni couldnt take it anymore and confessed to the police. She still spent most of her time in Louisville and New Albany, and, by December, spent most of it with Loveless. Derek Kaufman,21, the tough gang leader who was found guilty of first-degree murder. Shanda Sharer. Small stated that he would seek to have jurisdiction over the case moved to the Indiana Supreme Court. But the Indiana Supreme Court upheld their sentences. Lawrence and Rippey younger, less involved in the torture, and more forthcoming with authorities received lighter sentences, with Lawrence getting 20 years and Rippey getting 50 (shortened to 35 on appeal). All rights reserved. My opinion is that they [kill] to feel superior, or high on the victims fear, and theyre thirsty for the spill of blood.. "Angel is in good hands. In March 1991, Loveless revealed to her mother that she was a lesbian. So Jacque Vaught did something remarkable. Oops, this content can't be loadedbecause you're having connectivity problems, Stay always informed and up to date with our breaking news alerts, By Associated Press - Thursday, September 5, 2019. Three more hours later, they took her to another . I couldn't thank her enough. [13] Tackett and her mother came into periodic conflict; at one point, her mother went to Hope Rippey's house after learning that Rippey's father had purchased an ouija board for the girls. Larry, who was violent and abusive, did not usually share his income with the family and impulsively spent any money he earned on himself, especially firearms, motorcycles and cars. According to the show, Shanda began spending much time with her, and the two became romantically involved. 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. 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. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. She was sentenced to 60 years for murder. Copyright 2022 The Washington Times, LLC. Loveless is the last of the four to be released from prison. As the year progressed, Loveless's relationship with Heavrin deteriorated. Heavrin was horrified and asked to be taken home. And there's never any betrayal on either side," Jacque said. She remained on parole until December 2002. The two. The breeder convinced Vaught to watch a video of Loveless grown up and see what she does in prison for the program. It was published February 8, 1993 and May 11, 1995 in the Jeffersonville, Indiana-based newspaper, The Evening News. The film also has three interviews with Loveless. 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. [65] The play was published by Samuel French, Inc. in September 2009. [2] After Sharer's parents divorced, her mother remarried and the family moved to Louisville. But, that night, Lawrence and Rippey went straight to the Jefferson County Sheriffs office with their parents and spilled the whole story. Why 12-Year-Old Shanda Sharer Was Tortured And Killed By Four Teenage Girls. Please logout and login again. Shanda Rene Sharer (June 6, 1979 January 11, 1992) was an American girl who was tortured and burned to death in Madison, Indiana by four teenage girls. MADISON, IND. [52], On January 8, 2008, Loveless's request was rejected by Jefferson Circuit Judge Ted Todd. [63] A documentary produced by Episode 11 Productions, titled Charlie's Scars, captured Vaught's decision to allow Loveless to train dogs in Shanda's name. She will now serve parole in Jefferson County, Kentucky, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections. Rippey was sentenced to 60 years, with 10 years suspended due to mitigating circumstances plus 10 years of medium-supervision probation. 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. Shanda Sharer, 12 years old, had been reported missing by her parents some eight hours earlier. Shanda would start attending Hazelwood Middle School and was quickly making friends. Peer pressure. 12-year-old Shanda Sharer was murdered in 1992. The teens then bound, bludgeoned, choked, cut and sodomized Sharer at a remote location. In today's video, we talk about 1992 torture and murder of 12 year old Shanda Sharer where she was kidnapped, beaten, tortured, and then burned alive by four. Loveless began taking off Sharer's rings and handed each to the girls. Shanda was born in Pineville, Kentucky on the 6th of June 1979. And also don't understand your outrage. The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade: The New Girl chronicles what happened to Shanda and how four girls were responsible for her death. Shanda Renee Sharer (19791992) was a young girl who was tortured and burned to death in Madison, Indiana by four teenage girls. They arrived at Sharer's house shortly before dark. Loveless tried to slash Sharer's throat, but the knife was too dull. She was discharged on April 12. But once Shanda got into the car, Melinda got out of her hiding place and held a knife to Shandas throat, and grabbed her hair. Mary Bell. Sharer was tortured, beaten and burned in a rural area of Jefferson County, Indiana. [55], On April 28, 2006, Rippey was released from Indiana Women's Prison on parole after serving 14 years of her original sentence. [44][45], At 8:20p.m., a hysterical Lawrence and Rippey went to the Jefferson County Sheriff's office with their parents. Marjorie later described him as a sexual deviant who would wear her and her daughters' underwear and makeup, was incapable of staying monogamous, and had a mixture of jealousy and fascination with seeing her have sex with other men and women. Shanda was best friends with her mom, and close with her father and stepmother, Sharon. [67], The poem In God's Arms by author Lacy Gray dedicated to the family of Shanda Renee Sharer. That said, Loveless did have a difficult childhood. 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. She dropped out of high school in September 1991. The four teenagers were eventually arrested, and initially, Melinda and Mary pointed the finger at each other for the torture-murder. 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. 'Wow.'". Investigation Discoverys The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade: The New Girl chronicles what happened to Shanda and how four girls were responsible for her death. In May 2011, Tackett appeared on an episode of "Dr. [10], The extent of Larry's abuse of his daughters and other children is unclear. 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. Pretty much, they'd been a group of strangers who came together in order to murder an innocent 12 year old stranger. Shanda Renee Sharer was an American girl who was tortured and burned to death in Madison, Indiana, by four teenage girls. She passed away when she was 12 years old. Shanda Sharer, a 16-year-old girl from Missouri, was murdered in 1998. Then they lit Shanda Sharer on fire and drove off. Melinda Loveless, now 44, was one of four women convicted in the 1992 death of Shanda Sharer. 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. After that incident, the Loveless parents left the church and returned to their former professions and drinking. Loveless instructed Rippey and Lawrence to go to the door and introduce themselves as friends of Heavrin (Loveless's former and Sharer's current girlfriend), then invite Sharer to come with them to see Heavrin, who was waiting for them at "the Witch's Castle", or Mistletoe Falls, a ruined stone house located on an isolated hill overlooking the Ohio River. I was really taken aback, Vaught said after watching. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. All four of them were tried as adults and received lengthy sentences instead of the death penalty due to the plea bargain they entered after pleading guilty to their crimes. Four teenage girls lured 12-year-old Shanda Sharer to the witch's castle at midnight on the pretense that another friend was in desperate trouble. [19], Hope Anna Rippey was born in Madison on June 9, 1976. The crime was documented in two true crime books, Little Lost Angel by Michael Quinlan[30] and Cruel Sacrifice by Aphrodite Jones;[64] Jones's book on the case became a New York Times Bestseller. Some of Shanda's friends have put up a wonderful blog that discusses all the many issues surrounding this horrific crime. [68], "Mean", an episode from the fifth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, is based on the murder. That same day, the girls started talking. Her parents discovered the self-mutilation and checked her into a hospital on March 19, 1991.

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