Christopher and Channon: Is the death penalty enough?

There are crimes of passion, crimes of revenge, crimes of rape, crimes for money and greed, but the crimes for no reason other than evil are the most horrifying.  There is no real motive, no feeling, no logical explanation other than evil monsters doing evil things.

Often times screen writers try very hard to write the scariest horror movie, they try to put the audience in the movie using all the creative juices they can muster up to scare you by inventing tortures scenes, but nothing can be scarier than real and true crime.  The idea that this could happen anywhere to anyone and actually did happen to two normal and promising young people is more frightening than any movie.

I first heard about this crime in an email forward, the details so sick that I immediately thought it was fake and researched it on snopes (website to debunk email scams and fakes).  To my horror the email I received was very true and very real.

Channon Christian, 21 and Christopher Newsom, 23, went out for dinner on January 6, 2007 at a local restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee, they were scheduled to attend a friend’s party that very night, but sadly never made it.  After Channon did not arrive for work the next day, her friends and family began to worry.  They contacted police and were told to wait a while, that perhaps the young couple left of their own free will, but while they waited and called local hospitals, the unthinkable was happening.

Channon and Christopher were carjacked for Channon’s Toyota 4runner early on January 7^th at gunpoint by George Geovonni “Detroit” Thomas, 27, Lamaricus Devall “Slim” Davidson. 25, Letalvis “Rome” Cobbins, 24 and Vanessa Coleman, 18.  Almost as quickly as they were carjacked, the very car that was stolen was dumped and a new plan was in place, the young couple were taken to Lemaricus Devall "Slim" Davidson's rental home at which point the crime of carjacking turned into something far more devastating and non-media friendly.

Christopher was tied up and beaten, he was then repeatedly raped in front of his girlfriend, he was then drenched in gasoline and dragged from the home to a nearby railroad where he was shot several times and then set on fire.

The four maniacs then returned to do far more damage to Channon who at the time was I can imagine was still reeling from seeing her boyfriend beaten and raped and then dragged from the house screaming.  For her it would be far worse as she was hog tied and raped anally, orally and vaginally.  She was severely beaten, she was sexually assaulted with objects that left the medical examiner sick with the knowledge of how far and to what extent this torture was taken.  Cleaning liquid was forced down her throat and poured over her genitals.  This did not happen in a matter of hours, this was happening over and over again over a couple of days while countless people searched for her.

With the help of the telephone company Channon's family found her car which was dumped really close to where she was being held.  Evidence in the car took two days to process, this includes a fingerprint from one of the suspects, this fingerprint could have led authorities directly to Channon's location, but again police did not yet suspect foul play, that is until someone found Christopher's charred body by the railroad tracks.

The fingerprint was processed, a search warrant was issued and authorities went into the home where Channon was being held, except, they were too late, Channon was placed in several large garbage bags, her face was wrapped in one of these bags and she was placed in a large trash can in the kitchen of this horror house.  Channon died not of her injuries, which were extensive, but from lack of oxygen.  Her body told the tale of torture and unbelievable evil, the savages left her broken, but they left her full evidence, their DNA.

Many people knew this was happening in the inner circle of friends these monsters had, many people tried to hide them, protect them, destroy evidence, but in the end they were caught, their faces revealed.

It has been extremely difficult to get information on this case as it got very little media attention and my guess is that is because the details are gruesome and unbelievable.  No one wants to read about how a young beautiful couple were tortured and murdered for fun.  There are also many blogs screaming about racism on both sides, how this was or was not a hate crime.  All five suspects are black and both victims were white.  I think as far as the specifics of the crime it is fair to say this crime blew past any hate crime line and is in another category all together. 

The trial has begun for Lemaricus Devall "Slim" Davidson - I pray that death will be enough justice.

 

• George Geovonni "Detroit" Thomas, 27, faces a total of 46 charges. Thomas was indicted on 16 counts of felony murder growing out of the rape, robbery, kidnapping, and theft of Christian and Newsom, 2 counts of premeditated murder, 2 counts of especially aggravated robbery, 4 counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape, and 2 counts of theft.

• Lemaricus Devall "Slim" Davidson, 25, (b. June 13, 1981) faces the same 46 charges as Thomas. Davidson had also completed serving a five-year sentence in Tennessee on a previous felony conviction for carjacking and aggravated robbery on August 5, 2006.

• Letalvis "Rome" Cobbins, 24, (b. December 20, 1982) also faces the same 46 charges as Thomas. In 2003, Cobbins was convicted of third-degree attempted robbery in New York state. He and Davidson are brothers. 

• Vanessa Coleman, 18, was arrested by police in Lebanon, Kentucky. She faces 40 Tennessee state charges. Coleman was indicted on 12 counts of felony murder growing out of the rape, robbery, kidnapping, and theft of Christian and Newsom, 1 count of premeditated murder (of Christian only), 1 count of especially aggravated robbery (of Newsom only), 4 counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape, and 2 counts of theft.

• Eric "E" Boyd, age 24, was arrested in connection with the carjacking.