She still spent most of her time in Louisville and New Albany, and, by December, spent most of it with Loveless. They called the police at 10:55a.m. and were asked to return to the corpse. He sent letters to her for a while, playing on her emotions, but eventually severed all contact with her, and in December 1998, he died. Ligature marks were found on her wrists, and she had several lacerations on her head, neck and legs. Shanda endured hell and was later put in the trunk of the car, only in her underwear. Tackett and Loveless were sentenced to 60 years in the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. While at Hazelwood, Shanda had met Amanda Heavrin. And also don't understand your outrage. 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. The murder of Shanda Sharer occured in Madison, Indiana early in the morning on January 11, 1982. She was reunited with friends Tackett and Toni Lawrence, whom she had known since childhood, although her parents saw Tackett as a bad influence. Shanda Sharer moved to New Albany with her mother in 1991. Jacqueline made her daughter switch schools, and that seemed to work. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the murder of Shanda Sharer. It was published February 8, 1993 and May 11, 1995 in the Jeffersonville, Indiana-based newspaper, The Evening News. And I'm doing it for Shanda.". 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? He received a sentence of time served and was released in June 1995. 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. In 2012, Jacque Vaught made her first contact with Melinda Loveless since the trials, although indirectly. She did a good thing. While Tackett did have a hand in killing Shanda Sharer, she was released from prison in January 2018. Shanda Renee Sharer (June 6, 1979 - January 11, 1992) was an American girl who was tortured and burned to death in Madison, Indiana by Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence. But 20 years later, something no one expected happened. I saw someone almost reborn. It was a crime of passion and peer pressure committed by four teenage girls. Loveless and Tackett were sentenced to 60 years in prison at the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. 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. [26] Heavrin states she gave letters Loveless sent her containing death threats towards Sharer to a "youth prosecutor", but the youth prosecutor never did anything about it as far as she knew. But a breeder who supplies dogs to the ICAN program at the prison forged an unexpected connection. 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. They became lost, so they stopped at a gas station and covered Sharer in a blanket. Stephen resettled in Jeffersonville, Indiana with his wife, Sharon. At a remote trash dump in a densely overgrown area, Loveless and her gang stripped the clothes from Sharer's body, punched her repeatedly, sprayed window cleaner into her eyes. Court testimony showed Loveless wanted Sharer killed because the two competed for the affections of the same girl. Her parents would eventually divorce, and Shanda's mother Jacque would move the family to New Albany, Indiana in June 1991. As the year progressed, Loveless's relationship with Heavrin deteriorated. Tackett grew up in a strict religious household where normal teenager things were not welcome behaviors. Rippey and Lawrence, while both friends of Tackett, had not previously met Loveless (16). Behind bars, she trains puppies to be assistance dogs for disabled people. It was a crime of passion and peer pressure committed by four teenage girls. She remained on supervised parole for 5 years until April 2011. 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. Jacque saw something she had never seen before. The girls, who were all between the ages of 15 and 17, lured Shanda out of her home in the middle of the night and took her on a drive around southern Indiana. If you dont let good things come from bad things nothing gets better. My child would want this., Loveless, for her part, feels as if Vaught is helping her to overcome her past. She told Heavrin that they had killed Sharer and arranged to pick up Heavrin later that day. The girls drove around for the next few hours as they tortured Shanda. 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. Three more hours later, they took her to another . 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. He thanks you for reading his content. Loveless is the last of the four to be released from prison. 12-year-old Shanda Sharer was murdered in 1992. [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. 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. She enlisted the help of her friend Laurie Tackett, 17, and the latter's childhood friends Hope Rippey, 15, and Toni Lawrence, 15. 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. After she washed, Tackett told the girls' futures with her "runestones". She currently goes by a different name and works for a trucking company based out of Madison. Melinda Loveless, now 44, was one of four women convicted in the 1992 death of Shanda Sharer. "She was compassionate. But a dog named Angel is a dog like no other -- a four-legged conduit to Melinda's victim, Shanda Sharer. In March 1991, Loveless came out as a lesbian to her mother, who was initially furious but eventually accepted it. Then they lit Shanda Sharer on fire and drove off. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. [51] Rippey was sentenced to 60 years, with 10 years suspended for mitigating circumstances, plus 10 years of medium-supervision probation. par ; mai 21, 2022 She's my child," said Jacque. Shanda Renee Sharer was born June 6th 1979 in Pineville, Kentucky. Hope was released on parole in April 2006. She was kidnapped, tortured and burned alive by four teenage girls. Sharer's mother and sister were also guests on the show. Melinda has groomed Odle as a courtroom dog for abused and traumatized children. It's something that should have never happened.". From what we can tell, she chooses to keep a low profile and spends time with her children and father. They returned to the car but became lost again and pulled up to another gas station. Toni pleaded guilty to criminal confinement and received a 20-year sentence due to her cooperation. The grieving mother said she did it to honor her little girl, who she still thinks about every day. Thats all it was. Both older girls said he molested them, though Melinda did not admit this ever happened to her. William DeLong is a freelance wordsmith. "I had many times said, "If you want to see as close to a person that has absolutely nothing inside of them, look into Melinda's eyes 'cause there's nothing there,'" Vaught said. [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. 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 was released in September 2019. That'sall it was. But, that night, Lawrence and Rippey went straight to the Jefferson County Sheriffs office with their parents and spilled the whole story. Shanda was best friends with her mom, and close with her father and stepmother, Sharon. You have permission to edit this article. 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. Various court testimonies claimed he fondled Melinda as an infant, molested Marjorie's 13-year-old sister early in the marriage, and molested the girls' cousin Teddy from age 10 to 14. Lawrence and Rippey quickly lost interest in the music and went to the parking lot outside, where they engaged in sexual activities with two boys in Tackett's car. Mary Laurine "Laurie" Tackett, 43, of Madison, was released shortly after midnight, according to officials from the Indiana Department of Correction. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Tackett beat her with a tire iron until she was silent, claiming that she felt the victim's head caving in, and then told Loveless to "smell it". The story was turned into a play by Rob Urbinati called Hazelwood Jr. High, which starred Chlo Sevigny as Tackett. Hope was handed down a 40-year sentence for her involvement, and she was supposed to serve 17-and-a-half years of it behind bars. She's (Shanda) my child. Full name: Shanda Rene Sharer. Rippey asked about Sharer, and Tackett laughingly described the torture. She got into fights at school and reported being depressed, resulting in her receiving professional counseling. They initially thought it was a mannequin of some sort, but upon exiting the vehicle realized that it was clearly the burned body of a child. But Tackett also explained how after beating Sharerthey locked the injured but still-living girl in the trunk of her car and drove her to the spot where she was set on fire. Loveless immediately grew jealous of Heavrin and Sharer's relationship. So Jacque Vaught did something remarkable. But in 2004, five years were shaved off her sentence for good behavior. She will now serve parole in Jefferson County, Kentucky, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections. Loveless told Heavrin and another friend the whole story but had them promise to keep their mouths shut. Loveless then convinced the other girls to take Sharer to a remote location where there would be no one else around for miles. "I've loved her, I've cried on her. Investigation Discoverys The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade: The New Girl chronicles what happened to Shanda and how four girls were responsible for her death. The details of her murder shocked the area. [60], Sharer's father, Steven Sharer, died of alcoholism in 2005 at the age of 53. Heavrin was horrified and asked to be taken home. Once they had her in their car, they beat and tortured her for hours before finally setting her on fire. Loveless was 18 when she planned the crime. Eventually, they took her to another abandoned location and beat her mercilessly before stabbing her in the chest repeatedly. Melinda Loveless, now 43, was released from the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis on Thursday, according to a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Correction. Two other defendants, Toni Lawrence and Hope A. Rippey, were sentenced to 20 years and 50years respectively, according to IndyStar archives. Tackett was released in 2018, and served probation for one year. Slaughter 35,000 Civilians During One Korean War Massacre Or Is It North Korean Propaganda? The Shanda Sharer Murder has forever changed my life. [17] Loveless, often described as the ringleader in the attack,[50] had the most extensive history of abuse and mental health issues. WARNING: This article contains graphic content related to physical and s*xual violence and murder. [49] Tackett was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and suffering from hallucinations. [41], A friend of Loveless, Crystal Wathen, came over to Loveless's house, and they told her what had happened. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. The authorities learned that while Shanda was in middle school, she befriended an older teenager named Amanda. Melinda is training Angel to help someone in need, but Angel is already helping her. 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. She claimed that living with her family in Michigan was somewhat turbulent. [34], Tackett led them to a dark abandoned building off a logging road in a densely forested area. [4] Early in the school year, she transferred to Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, a Catholic school in New Albany, where she joined the girls' basketball team. Clockwise from top left: Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence. The 1990s: The Deadliest Decade: The New Girl chronicles what happened to Shanda and how four girls were responsible for her death. Shanda Sharer was born on June 6, 1979 in Pineville, Kentucky to Steve Sharer and Jacqueline Vaught. 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. [2] After Sharer's parents divorced, her mother remarried and the family moved to Louisville. They arrived at Sharer's house shortly before dark. That said, Loveless did have a difficult childhood. There, Lawrence and Rippey spotted a couple of boys and talked to them before once again getting back into the car and leaving, arriving some time later at the edge of some woods near Tackett's home in Madison. This tire-iron assault was off and on for hours as the girls went on a joyride through the countryside. She was close to her mother, Jacqueline Vaught, who said her daughter was good at gymnastics, basketball, and baseball and was a cheerleader. 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. Shanda Sharer, a 16-year-old girl from Missouri, was murdered in 1998. It spiraled out of control way too fast. Loveless served more than 26 years in prison for murder and criminal confinement. She was sentenced to 60 years in prison but has served the required time for her release. Her case attracted nationwide attention due to its gruesome nature. "Ididn't know Shanda at all. She was, by all accounts, a normal girl who made friends easily and had fun at school dances. At present, all of them are out of prison, much before the end of their sentences. 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. Shanda Renee Sharer was an American girl who was tortured and burned to death in Madison, Indiana, by four teenage girls. I had never heard of Shanda Sharer before she was killed, but her murder has made me a fervent advocate for the prevention of crime. Her father was a boilermaker. At some point, Rippey had taken Sharer's Mickey Mouse watch and danced to the tune it played. During an orgy with another couple at their house, Marjorie tried to commit suicide, an act she would repeat several times throughout her daughters' childhoods. Melinda Loveless, mastermind of 1992 murder of Shanda Sharer, released from prison, Woman convicted of gruesome 1992 murder of Shanda Sharer released from prison, WDRB Meteorologist Marc Weinberg's Louisville weather forecast for Wednesday, SPORTS PAGE | Oscar Tshiebwe delivers message, responds with best performance, CRAWFORD | On Kentucky, Tshiebwe's rededication and the value of criticism, Tshiebwe's 37 points, 24 rebounds lead way in Kentucky's win, 2 friends from Louisville claim $1 million Mega Millions winnings, 18-year-old woman dies after hit-and-run in west Louisville, police searching for suspect, Thieves steal 4 cars estimated to be $100k at used car lot in Mt. ""All I've ever said is, 'I just want them to serve their sentence.' Hope and Toni met Mary, their friend, on January 10, 1992, believing they would go to a concert. In exchange for her cooperation, Lawrence was allowed to plead guilty to one count of criminal confinement and was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years. 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