Christopher Newsom

Channon Gail Christian, aged 21, and Hugh Christopher Newsom Jr., aged 23, were from Knoxville, Tennessee, United States.

Hugh Christopher "Chris" Newsom Jr. (born September 21, 1983, in Knoxville) was a former baseball player for the Halls High School Red Devils, graduating in 2002.

After high school, he attended Pellissippi State Technical Community College and became a carpenter.

Newsom was 23 years old when he was murdered.

Channon Gail Christian (born April 29, 1985, in Nacogdoches, Texas) moved from Louisiana to Tennessee with her family in 1997.

She was a graduate of Farragut High School (2003), and a senior majoring in sociology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

They were kidnapped on the evening of January 6, 2007, when Christian's vehicle was carjacked.

The couple were taken to a rental house.

Both of them were raped, tortured, and murdered.

Four males and one female were arrested, charged, and convicted in the case.

In 2007, a grand jury indicted Letalvis Darnell Cobbins, Lemaricus Devall Davidson, George Geovonni Thomas, and Vanessa Lynn Coleman on counts of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder.

Also in 2007, Eric DeWayne Boyd was indicted by a federal grand jury of being an accessory to a carjacking, resulting in serious bodily injury to another person and misprision of a felony.

She planned on graduating in December 2007.

Channon was 21 years old when she was murdered.

On Saturday, January 6, 2007, Christian and Newsom planned to go for dinner together and attend a friend's party.

That afternoon, Christian went to a friend's apartment to get ready.

At around 8:00 pm, Christian's friend went to the party, and Christian stayed behind and waited for Newsom to pick her up.

Newsom arrived, and he and Christian went to the apartment complex parking lot.

The assailants observed Christian and Newsom standing close to Christian's vehicle in an embrace.

They then decided to attack the couple.

Both were forced into the backseat of Christian's SUV at gunpoint, had their hands tied behind their backs, and were taken to Davidson's house at 2316 Chipman Street.

Both Christian and Newsom were raped.

Newsom is believed to have been raped inside Davidson's house.

Retrials were originally slated for the summer and fall of 2012.

The orders for retrials of Davidson and Cobbins were subsequently overturned by the Tennessee State Supreme Court, and their convictions and sentences stand.

The Coleman and Thomas retrials resulted in convictions, but with a reduced sentence for Coleman and the same sentence for Thomas.

Controversy arose due to differing interpretations regarding the media's coverage of the murders.

Many people believed that the crimes were ignored because the victims were white while the perpetrators were black.

Others, including journalists, disagreed with this assertion.

Efforts have been made to remember and honor Christian and Newsom.

In 2014, new laws named after the victims were introduced in Tennessee.

Both victims have also had memorials and scholarships named after them.

In 2018, Boyd was indicted on state-level charges of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder.

Four of the five defendants (Eric Boyd, Letalvis Cobbins, Lemaricus Davidson, and George Thomas) had multiple prior felony convictions.

After a jury trial, Davidson was convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection.

Cobbins and Thomas were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Vanessa Coleman was convicted of facilitating the crimes and sentenced to 53 years.

Eric Boyd was convicted at the federal level and sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for being an accessory after the fact to carjacking.

He was convicted on state level charges over a decade later in 2019.

All of the state convictions were initially set aside because of misconduct by the presiding judge, who has since been disbarred.