Her parents, Stephen Sharer and Jacqueline Vaught got divorced when Shanda was very young. Vaught donated a dog named Angel in Shanda's name to Loveless to train for the Indiana Canine Assistance Network program (ICAN) through Project2heal, which provides service pets to people with disabilities. It spiraled out of control way too fast. Clockwise from top left: Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence. Tackett then dropped off Lawrence and Rippey at their homes and finally returned to her own home with Loveless. On a freezing January in 1992, five teenage girls crowded into a car. Melinda has also reportedly changed her name since her release and prefers to stay away from the public eyes. Two days later, with her girlfriend and Toni Lawrence, Tackett cut her wrists deeply and was returned to the hospital. They removed her jewelry and began threatening to cut off all Sharer's hair before they eventually lit a fire. If you don't let good things come from bad things, nothing gets better. It was a crime of passion and peer pressure committed by four teenage girls. Loveless and Tackett made Sharer strip down to her underwear; then, Loveless beat Sharer with her fists. She still spent most of her time in Louisville and New Albany, and, by December, spent most of it with Loveless. And I know what my child would want. After more than seven hoursof torture, the girls ended itby soaking Sharer with gasoline and burning her alive alongside a country road, evidence revealed. The girls used the pretense that they were taking Sharer to see Heavrin as the excuse for their visit. 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. Shanda Sharer was a 12 year old girl living in the idyllic town of Madison, Indiana. [32], Rippey told Sharer that Heavrin was still at the Witch's Castle. "She was compassionate. Died: 11 January 1992. "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. Sharer's mother and sister were also guests on the show. He filed for bankruptcy in 1980. Sharer moved to New Albany with her. Melinda was released in September 2019, and while in prison, she trained service dogs for those living with trauma and disabilities. Shanda was born on June 6th, 1979, and was born in Pineville, Kentucky. A small memorial to Shanda Sharer in the field where she died. 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. Published on May 20, 2011. 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. Shipley felt his heart sink as he read the description - blonde hair, five feet tall, around 100 pounds. Shanda Sharer met classmate Amanda Heavrin at Hazelwood in 1991, soon after moving to the area with her recently divorced mother from Kentucky. Known For: Being Tortured and killed by 4 teenage girls. Shanda Rene Sharer (June 6, 1979 - January 11, 1992) was an American girl who was murdered by a group of girls in early 1992. Jacque saw something she had never seen before. While Tackett, Rippey, and Lawrence had never met Sharer prior to that night, Tackett had already known of the plan to intimidate the 12-year-old girl. In Dec. 1992,Loveless pleaded guilty to the Jan. 11, 1992 murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer of New Albany. After reading about the murder of Bobby Kent that inspired the film "Bully," learn about . As a way of rebelling against her parents, the youngster shaved her head and started to engage in occult practices. Ligature marks were found on her wrists, and she had several lacerations on her head, neck and legs. "I was really taken aback," said Jacque. They arrived at Sharer's house shortly before dark. Tackett grew up in a strict religious household where normal teenager things were not welcome behaviors. 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 said her goal is to make Shanda proud of her, and she believes Angel would do that. Sharer was tortured, beaten and burned in a rural area of Jefferson County, Indiana. Ultimately four teenage girls would be arrested and charged for the murd. She was kidnapped, tortured and burned alive by four teenage girls. [1], Shanda Sharer was born in the Pineville Community Hospital in Pineville, Kentucky, on June 6, 1979, to Stephen Sharer and his wife Jacqueline, who was later known as Jacqueline Vaught. 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. People were even more shocked when it was revealed that four teenage girls were responsible for the brutal murder. "You know what, I didn't believe it," said Loveless of the gesture. The description matched his Jane Doe. Loveless ordered Sharer to tell the truth about stealing the girlfriend or have her throat slit. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. She even carved an "M" into the stomach of one . When they pulled up in front of her house, Loveless kissed Heavrin, told her she loved her and pleaded with her not to tell anyone. Rippey came out of the car to hold down Sharer. Her parents were Stephen Sharer and Jacqueline Vaught. Angel is in good hands. Tacketts motives aside, what would drive 16-year-old Loveless to mastermind such a brutal murder? Sharer was tortured, beaten and burned in a rural area of Jefferson County, Indiana. Clockwise from top left: Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence. Rippey asked about Sharer, and Tackett laughingly described the torture. Sharer told the girls to return after her parents were asleep, which they did. 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. My child would want this., Loveless, for her part, feels as if Vaught is helping her to overcome her past. 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. 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. [31], Eventually, the four girls left for Sharer's house. She was released on December 14, 2000 after serving nine years in prison. Most of the crimes occurred from 1968 to 1977. But a breeder who supplies dogs to the ICAN program at the prison forged an unexpected connection. There, they cold-heartedly beat and terrorized the girl. Shanda Sharer, 12 years old, had been reported missing by her parents some eight hours earlier. Although Heavrin and Loveless had never formally ended their relationship, Loveless started to date an older girl. The killers looked no different than girls I knew in school who walked around, wreaking havoc and completely out of control. In March 1991, Loveless came out as a lesbian to her mother, who was initially furious but eventually accepted it. Upon further appeal, the judge reduced her sentence to 35 years. [3] When her mother divorced again, the family moved in June 1991 to New Albany, Indiana, and Sharer enrolled at Hazelwood Middle School. Shanda's parents divorced when she was young, and she ended up . why taoism is often misunderstood as a superstitious religion because eric montross big grits eric montross big grits [55], On April 28, 2006, Rippey was released from Indiana Women's Prison on parole after serving 14 years of her original sentence. 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. She would often attempt to impress her friends by pretending to be possessed by the spirit of "Deanna the Vampire". 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. "Angel is in good hands. Please logout and login again. Melinda was someone who had learned to nurture something, love it, then let it go, as she did with Odle last March. But, that night, Lawrence and Rippey went straight to the Jefferson County Sheriffs office with their parents and spilled the whole story. A burn victim like Shanda, Charlie Petrizzo convinced Jacque to watch a videotape of the new Melinda. Behind bars, she trains puppies to be assistance dogs for disabled people. The incident attracted international attention due to both the brutality of the murder and the young age of the perpetrators, who were aged . Loveless served more than 26 years in prison for murder and criminal confinement. Murderpedia Shanda Sharer's killers. [69][70], The Cold Case second-season episode "The Sleepover" is loosely based on this crime. So Jacque Vaught did something remarkable. He received a sentence of time served and was released in June 1995. They then went to Tacketts house to clean up and drink sodas before realizing that their victim, now screaming in the trunk, was still alive. Shanda Sharer was born on June 6, 1979 in Pineville, Kentucky to Steve Sharer and Jacqueline Vaught. There, Sharer attended fifth and sixth grades at St. Paul School, where she was on the cheerleading, volleyball, and softball teams. The story was turned into a play by Rob Urbinati called Hazelwood Jr. High, which starred Chlo Sevigny as Tackett. Furthermore, Melinda had a rough childhood, with her father being accused of sexual abuse. In May 2011, Tackett appeared on an episode of "Dr. In 2012, Jacque Vaught made her first contact with Melinda Loveless since the trials, although indirectly. Her mother was a fundamentalist Pentecostal Christian and her father was a factory worker with two felony convictions in the 1960s. While she was furious at first, she accepted her daughter's lifestyle. 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. Loveless explained to the two other girls that she disliked Sharer for being a copycat and for stealing her girlfriend.[28]. Mary Bell. [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. [3], Melinda Loveless was born in New Albany on October 28, 1975, the youngest of three daughters, to Marjorie and Larry Loveless. They entered plea bargains to avoid the death penalty. In early October 1991, Heavrin and Sharer attended a school dance, where Loveless found and confronted them. 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. Finally, in the early morning hours, the torturers stopped at a gas station and bought a two-liter bottle of Pepsi, which they quickly emptied and refilled with gasoline. [52], On January 8, 2008, Loveless's request was rejected by Jefferson Circuit Judge Ted Todd. [44][45], At 8:20p.m., a hysterical Lawrence and Rippey went to the Jefferson County Sheriff's office with their parents. Shanda would start attending Hazelwood Middle School and was quickly making friends. [2] After Sharer's parents divorced, her mother remarried and the family moved to Louisville. Some of Shanda's friends have put up a wonderful blog that discusses all the many issues surrounding this horrific crime. But 20 years later, something no one expected happened. 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. In the summer of 1986, after she would not let him go home with two women he met at a bar, Larry beat Marjorie so severely that she was hospitalized; he was convicted of battery.

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