The Murders Of Channon Christian And Christopher Newsom

⚠️ This is one of the most disturbing and brutal cases I have researched. Please proceed reading at your own caution ⚠️

Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom were a young couple from Knoxville, Tennessee who were kidnapped then viciously tortured, raped, and murdered in January of 2007. Despite how horrific and graphic the case was, it did not receive very much media coverage early on.

Channon Gail Christian was born on April 29, 1985 in Nacogdoches, Texas. After living in Louisiana for a while, Channon and her family moved to Tennessee in 1997. She went on to graduate from Farragut High School in 2003 and began majoring in sociology at the University of Knoxville. Channon planned to graduate in December of 2007.

Hugh Christopher Newsom, who also went by Chris, was born on September 21, 1983 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He played baseball at his high school Halls High, which he later graduated from in 2002. Chris later attended Pellissippi State Technical Community College and became a carpenter.

Channon and Chris had been newly dating at the time of their murders. On January 6, 2007, the couple planned to go out for dinner and then attend a friend’s party together after. Channon waited for Chris to come pick her up from another friend’s house after getting ready. At about 8 P.M., Chris arrived, and he and Channon headed to the parking lot to go to Channon’s car, which they planned to ride to the party in. As Channon and Chris were hugging each other next to Channon’s car, a group of 5 people: Letalvis Cobbins, Lemaricus Davidson (whom were half brothers), George Thomas, Eric Boyd, and Vanessa Coleman, ambushed the couple at gunpoint. They were both forced into the back seat of the car and were tied up by the assailants. They were then taken to the home of Lemaricus Davidson.

WARNING ⚠️ The details of the torture that Channon and Chris had to endure are VERY GRAPHIC!

When they got to Davidson’s house, Channon and Chris were raped and tortured in the most horrific ways. A medical examiner determined that Chris had been sodomized with an object and raped by at least 1 of the assailants. After this, he was forced by the 4 male assailants to walk barefoot to a set of train tracks that were nearby. Chris’s hands and feet were then tied together and he was blindfolded and gagged with a sock. He was then shot in the neck and back, but was still alive after this. After a while, the 23 year old was then fatally shot with the muzzle of the gun pressed above his right ear, which severed his brainstem. After he was dead, the assailants set his body on fire and returned to Lemaricus’s house.

As Chris was being murdered, Channon was held captive by the other assailant. When the men returned, they then began to beat, torture, and rape Channon for over 24 hours. The medical examiner said that the sexual attack of Channon was extreme as she had been raped vaginally, anally, and orally, and her injuries were consistent with being raped using an object. It is believed that Channon was tied to a chair as she was being raped. She was also repeatedly kicked in the head and vagina, which caused her to suffer major hemorrhaging in both areas. She also had many bruises and carpet burns all over her body. According to one of the killer’s confessions, Channon pleaded with her killers, saying she didn’t want to die.

Before killing Channon, to remove their DNA, these monsters poured bleach down her throat and scrubbed her body with bleach, including her damaged genital area. Channon was then hog-tied with curtains and bed sheets, and then a trash bag was tightly tied around her face, and she was put into several large trash bags. Channon was then placed inside a waste disposal bin, where the 21 year old suffocated to death sometime between January 7-8. During this time, Lemaricus, went to see his girlfriend, whom he also gave some of Channon’s belongings to, and he was seen wearing Chris’s shoes.

When Channon and Chris didn’t show up to their friend’s party that night, their friends tried to contact them, to which they received no response. The friends then went to the apartment complex where the couple were last at, and here they found Chris’s car still parked in the parking lot, but Channon’s car was gone. The next day, Channon’s mom was also growing concerned as she was unable to reach Channon. Channon’s manager also contacted her mother, stating that Channon had not come in for work, which ultimately caused her to report her daughter missing. Along with their friends, Channon and Chris’s family began searching all over for the couple, including going to hospitals to see if they were there.

That same day, January 7, 2007, the body of 23 year old Chris Newsom was found by a rail worker a little after noon. The medical examiner originally found semen from the suspected killer(s) inside of Chris’s body, but the DNA in the semen had been destroyed by the fire that the killers set.

On January 8, while the search for Channon continued, Channon’s mobile phone pinged to an area near the Cherry Street phone tower. Family and friends went to search this area, where Channon’s car was found abandoned. Several of Channon’s belongings were missing from her car, including a teddy bear and her phone charger. However, a pack of Newport cigarettes were found inside of her car. It was reported that neither Channon nor Chris smoked, so it could not have belonged to them. There was also an envelope that had a fingerprint on it found inside the car, which led investigators to 2316 Chipman Street, just 2 blocks from where the car was abandoned. This was Lemaricus’s house.

On January 9, police went to the house, but no one was there. They went inside where they found the body of 21 year old Channon Christian inside of the waste bin wrapped in trash bags. Lemaricus’s fingerprints were found all over the bags. Semen was found inside of Channon’s body, which the medical examiner was able to determine belonged to Lemaricus and Letalvis. Items that belonged to Channon and Chris, included the items that were missing from Channon’s car, were found inside of the house. Shell casings were also found around the house, which matched the bullets that were used to kill Chris.

A manhunt was executed to find Lemaricus. Police were able to find one of the assailants, Eric Boyd, who gave the the location of Lemaricus. Lemaricus was found on January 11, 2007, hiding in a vacant house and he was arrested. Lemaricus told the cops different stories, claiming he wasn’t involved in the rapes and murders of the couple, but stating he did use Channon’s car for drug deals. After this, Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, and Vanessa Coleman were all arrested in connection to the murders. During an investigation, journal entry from January 9, 2007, was found which 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. It’s a crazy world these days! But I love the fun adventures [and] lessons that I’ve learned. It’s going to be a long interesting year!”

Forensic science matched the handwriting back to Vanessa Coleman.

After finding the bodies, evidence, and the perpetrators, dates for the trials were set. The first trials for Lemaricus Davidson, Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, Eric Boyd and Vanessa Coleman began in 2009. Eric Boyd was found guilty of being an accessory to the carjacking. He was the only suspect that was not charged with murder and was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in prison on April 16, 2008. George Thomas was found guilty on multiple counts and sentenced to life without parole on December 8, 2009. Letalvis Cobbins was found guilty and faced the possible death penalty, but he was later given life without parole on August 25, 2009. Lemaricus Davidson was found guilty and jurors had originally decided to give him the death penalty also with 80 years on other charges related to the murders on October 28, 2009. Vanessa Coleman was the last to face trial, and was granted immunity for the carjacking, but not for the rapes and murders. She was sentenced to 53 years in prison on May 13, 2010.

The case began to stir controversy as many critiqued that it did not receive very much media coverage despite how brutal it was because the victims were white and all the suspects were black. However, the police chief stated that there was no indication that this crime was racially motivated. Those people were just evil people and Channon and Chris deserved so much better than what happened to them. It doesn’t matter what race someone is because we are all humans and no one should have to endure that except for the evil people who can commit such heinous crimes.

In the aftermath, foundations were started in honor of Channon and Chris’s lives, like the Channon Gail Christian Foundation, as well as a baseball scholarship that is annually given to students at the high school that Chris attended in honor of him. The house that the couple were tortured and killed at was also destroyed and a memorial for the couple was put in its place. In 2014 two new laws were passed called the Chris Newsom Act and the Channon Christian Act. The Chris Newsom Act was passed to prevent re-trials in cases like this one as a result of the re-trials that the killers were provided with. The Channon Christian Act was passed to prevent the accused from painting the victims in a negative light after one of the killers tried to claim that Channon came to buy drugs, which was completely false.

The torture and pain that Channon and Chris went through is so horrifying and sickening. I cannot understand why people commit such evil crimes against others. Those monsters who did this to them should never be able to touch freedom for the rest of their lives. This couple didn’t deserve this and I hope that they are living a peaceful and joyous eternity together.

Resources-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Channon_Christian_and_Christopher_Newsom

http://www.frightmeter.com/2016/11/little-known-real-life-murders-worse.html

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