In October of that year, the pair attended a school dance together. Melinda almost immediately found Amanda (the same day Shanda's body was found) and told her the whole story. There had been just three other murders in the previous 12 years in the County, and none of them were as gruesome. Murderpedia Shanda Sharer's killers. Image of Melinda Loveless, taken in Dec. 2007. 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. [65] The play was published by Samuel French, Inc. in September 2009. During the car ride, Sharer continued begging them to take her back home. 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. She told Heavrin that they had killed Sharer and arranged to pick up Heavrin later that day. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. Shanda Renee Sharer was an American girl who was tortured and burned to death in Madison, Indiana, by four teenage girls. Tackett made Rippey pour the gasoline on Sharer, and then they set her on fire. After this incident, Larry filed for divorce and moved to Avon Park, Florida. 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. While Tackett went inside to ask for directions, Lawrence called a boy she knew in Louisville and chatted for several minutes to ease her worries, but did not mention Sharer's abduction. On a freezing January in 1992, five teenage girls crowded into a car. [62] By November 2018 Shanda's mother Jacque Vaught stated that the scholarship fund had been depleted and is no longer accepting donations. Sharer was reluctant to go with them, yet agreed after changing her clothes. My child would want this., Loveless, for her part, feels as if Vaught is helping her to overcome her past. Furthermore, Shandas grades were getting affected. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. [44][45], At 8:20p.m., a hysterical Lawrence and Rippey went to the Jefferson County Sheriff's office with their parents. Loveless immediately grew jealous of Heavrin and Sharer's relationship. The film also has three interviews with Loveless. They drove north of Madison, past Jefferson Proving Ground to Lemon Road off U.S. Route 421, a place known to Rippey. [58] After serving 26+ years in prison, she will serve parole in Jefferson County, Kentucky. She was reunited with friends Tackett and Toni Lawrence, whom she had known since childhood, although her parents saw Tackett as a bad influence. After her parents divorced, her mother re-married and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. But 20 years later, something no one expected happened. Then they lit Shanda Sharer on fire and drove off. This description of how the investigation unfolded . The girls then took Sharer into their car and told her they were going to drive her to the meeting place at the Witchs Castle, an isolated and abandoned house that served as a local teen hangout. [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. Death of Innocence - The Murder of Young Shanda Sharer BY David Lohr Autopsy On Sunday morning, Dr. George Nichols conducted Shanda's autopsy. Shanda Sharer was an ordinary Indiana teenager in 1992 until four girls tortured her for hours before finally killing her. 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". A sleepy Indiana town awoke one chilly morning in the winter of 1992 to discover the lifeless body of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer in an open field. Loveless told Heavrin and another friend the whole story but had them promise to keep their mouths shut. She remained on supervised parole for 5 years until April 2011. Consequently, he was arrested in February 1993 on charges of rape, sodomy, and sexual battery. But 20 years later, something no one expected happened. That said, Loveless did have a difficult childhood. Her mother was a fundamentalist Pentecostal Christian and her father was a factory worker with two felony convictions in the 1960s. He would also embarrass his children by finding their underwear and smelling it in front of other family members. Two days later, with her girlfriend and Toni Lawrence, Tackett cut her wrists deeply and was returned to the hospital. The story was turned into a play by Rob Urbinati called Hazelwood Jr. High, which starred Chlo Sevigny as Tackett. Like Mary, Melindas last known location is Indiana. Melinda was released in September 2019, and while in prison, she trained service dogs for those living with trauma and disabilities. Loveless was 18 when she planned the crime. Her death has been the subject of much speculation and debate over the years. One of the four women convicted ofbeating, burning and killing 12-year-old Shanda Renee Sharer in 1992 was released Thursday from prison on the 26th anniversary of the girl's body being found. 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. Be the first one to comment on this story. They returned to the car but became lost again and pulled up to another gas station. Unfortunately, that did nothing to stop the horrific events that would soon unfold. 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 seven years, Loveless has become one of the most trusted and competent trainers in the Indiana Canine Assistance Network (ICAN) program. It was a crime of passion and peer pressure committed by four teenage girls. They left soon after, fearing they had drawn attention to themselves. Shanda Sharer Murder: Where Are Her Killers Now? She was close to her mother, Jacqueline Vaught, who said her daughter was good at gymnastics, basketball, and baseball and was a cheerleader. [21] As with the other girls, Rippey began to self-harm at age 15. [60], Sharer's father, Steven Sharer, died of alcoholism in 2005 at the age of 53. They called the police at 10:55a.m. and were asked to return to the corpse. 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. Upon arrival, they borrowed some clothes from Loveless, and she showed them a knife, telling them she was going to scare Sharer with it. Shanda Sharer. Amanda. That same day, the girls started talking. Its something that should have never happened., Furthermore, in an interview on Dr. Phil, the convicted killer explained why she thinks people kill. Tackett poured out the Pepsi and refilled the bottle with gasoline. 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. Tackett further taunted Sharer, claiming that the Witch's Castle was filled with human remains and Sharer's would be next. In 1965, Larry became a probationary officer with the New Albany Police Department, but was fired after eight months when he and his partner assaulted an African-American man whom Larry accused of sleeping with his wife. "They're going to have that.". but the best I can do is admit to my mistake. However, Amanda was in an on-and-off relationship with Loveless, who could not handle the jealousy and made public threats to kill Sharer. Melinda Loveless has spent more than 7,000 sunrises and sunsets -- half her life -- behind razor wire. 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? Everyone involved had been sworn to secrecy. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the murder of Shanda Sharer. Shanda Rene Sharer (June 6, 1979 - January 11, 1992) was an American girl who was murdered by a group of girls in early 1992. And also don't understand your outrage. She donated a puppy in her daughter's honor to the Indiana Canine Assistance Network program, where Loveless had taken to training dogs for the disabled. She began attending Hazelwood Junior High School where she met Amanda Heavrin, 15, and developed a romantic interest in her. When they opened the trunk, Sharer sat up, covered in blood with her eyes rolled back in her head, but unable to speak. 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. Larry became a Baptist lay preacher and Marjorie became the school nurse. "It's my choice to make. Her parents, Stephen Sharer and Jacqueline Vaught got divorced when Shanda was very young. 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. Jun 20, 1992 at 12:00 am. Then, discover the story of teenage serial killer Harvey Robinson. When her parents divorced, her mother married another man and The Shanda Sharer Murder. Shanda was best friends with her mom, and close with her father and stepmother, Sharon. Wikimedia Commons Shanda Sharer In 1991, Shanda Sharer was a bubbly 12-year-old attending Hazelwood Middle School in New Albany, Ind. Jacque has faced criticism over her decision to let Shanda's killer honor her name. Shanda attended fifth and sixth grades in Louisville at St. Paul School where she was on the cheer leading, volleyball and softball teams. They both gave very rambling statements, identifying the victim as "Shanda", naming the two other girls involved as best as they could, and describing the main events of the previous night. However, what was in store for them was much darker. Lawrence was released from prison in 2000, and Rippey was released in 2006. Dr. Phil asked Lauries mother and sister if they agreed with that statement, and they said yes. Jacqueline made her daughter switch schools, and that seemed to work. Loveless trained dogs for the program for several years. Below read an excerpt from the book and delve into the tragic . Meanwhile, Lawrence and Rippey stayed behind in Tacketts car. Shanda was the kind of girl you wanted to be friends with; she was bubbly, outgoing and a lot of fun. "I was the monster. On this particular weekend Shanda had been staying with her father, Steve Sharer, and Melinda knew it. "I was the bad person.". Stephen resettled in Jeffersonville, Indiana with his wife, Sharon. In 1992, 12-year-old Shanda Sharer was brutally murdered by four other girls. Now 36, she grew up in prison, in the shadow of her legacy: a crime of jealousy. One of the four women convicted of beating, burning and killing 12-year-old Shanda Renee Sharer in 1992 was released Thursday from prison on the 26th anniversary of the girl's body being found.. [41], A friend of Loveless, Crystal Wathen, came over to Loveless's house, and they told her what had happened. All rights reserved. After another divorce, she moved her family to New Albany, Indiana. The two. [3], Melinda Loveless was born in New Albany on October 28, 1975, the youngest of three daughters, to Marjorie and Larry Loveless. Tackett was released from Rockville Correctional Facility on September 11, 2018, after serving nearly 26 years in prison and completing a year of probation. 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. At this point, Sharers mother transferred her to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School in order to protect her. Melinda Loveless, the mastermind behind the cruel gang rape torture-murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer in 1992 was released on Thursday, Sept. 5, after serving more than 26 years in prison. There had been just three other murders in the previous 12 years in the County, and none of them were as gruesome. Loveless was released from Indiana Women's Prison on September 5, 2019. 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. Hours later they took Shanda to another remote location and continued brutalizing her. Hope Rippey was one of four girls convicted of murdering Shanda Sharer luring her from her home in the dead of the night and pouring gasoline on her body. In March 1991, Loveless came out as a lesbian to her mother, who was initially furious but eventually accepted it. She did a good thing. She's (Shanda) my child. After that incident, she refused him sex for a month, until he raped her as their daughters overheard the event through a closed door. After Loveless's father left the family and her mother remarried, Loveless behaved erratically. She went into counseling after the incident but did not follow through. Died: 11 January 1992. [47] Loveless and Tackett were arrested on January 12. Tackett was released in 2018, and served probation for one year. For hours, they tortured a barely conscious Sharer by assaulting her with a tire iron before ultimately taking her to a field and burning her alive. Tackett told people in one interview that, I didnt know Shanda at all. Among his complaints were that he was not allowed to sleep in his bed during the day or to read the newspaper. I think the ICAN program allows her to have something in her life that she can show love back to and theres never betrayal on either side.. The ringleader and jealous lover soon leapt out from under the blanket and threatened to slit Sharers throat if she didnt confess to stealing Heavrin away from her. The whole episode I refer to Shanda as Shandra. What followed was a shocking story of deceit and torture. She was abused by a relative at age 9 and was raped by a teenage boy at age 14, although the police only issued an order for the boy to keep away from Lawrence. 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. She enlisted the help of her friend Laurie Tackett, 17, and the latter's childhood friends Hope Rippey, 15, and Toni Lawrence, 15. Sharer was twelve year old girl from Indiana, USA. Mary, who was interested in the occult, even talked about holding a seance to ask Shandas ghost how it felt to be burned alive. [46], Detectives obtained dental records that positively identified Sharer as the victim. 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. [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. Jacque saw something she had never seen before. It was also found that the victim's face and hands were burnt in an attempt to keep her unrecognizable and unidentifiable. Itspiraled out of control way too fast. And I know what my child would want. Her parents divorced in February 1984, and she moved with her mother and siblings to Quincy, Michigan, for three years. The details of her murder shocked the area. Florida Grandma Takes Out Dentures To Scare Off Naked Intruder, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Heavrin promised she would not before entering her house. ", "Judge denies Loveless' request for early release in torture-killing", "Woman convicted in 1992 murder released from prison", "Mastermind behind brutal murder of Indiana girl in 1992 released from prison", "New Albany memorial focuses on Shanda, not her murder", "Shanda Sharer's mother and murderer form unlikely alliance", "In Cold Blood: A Daughter's Brutal Murder", "Watch Jealousy Full Episode - Killer Kids | Lifetime", "Sex and Death: Interview with Marlene McCarty", "MOCA Collection: Marlene McCarty: 20002001: Melinda Loveless, Toni Lawrence, Hope Rippey, Laurie Tackett, and Shanda Sharer January 11, 1992 (1:39 am)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Shanda_Sharer&oldid=1133311329, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using embedded infobox templates with the title parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Body of Shanda Sharer found in rural Jefferson County, Indiana, Loveless and Tackett accept plea bargains, A judge reduces Rippey's 60-year sentence to 35 years, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 04:34.
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